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nivision^S2430 

Sectioa  M4-'=f 


THE 

FRIENDSHIPS 

OF 

JESUS. 


THE 


FRIENDSHIPS 


OF 


JESUS. 


By  the  RKV.  M.  J.  OI.UVIER  O.  P. 


FROM  THE  FRENCH 

BY 

M.   C.  KKOGH. 
WITH    A    PREFACE 

BY 

REV.  MlCHAEIv  M.  O'KANE  O.  P. 


ST.  IvOUIS,  MO.    1903. 

Published  by  B.  HERDER, 

17  South   Broadwaj'. 


NIHIIv  OBSTAT. 
S.  Ivudovioi,  die  4.  Novembris  1901. 

F.  G.  HoivWitCK, 

Censor  Theologicus. 


IMPRIMATUR. 
St.  Ivouis,  Mo.,  November  9th,  1901. 

»^  John  J.  Kain, 
Archbishop  of  St.  Ivouis. 

Copyright,  1903,  by  Joseph  Gummersbach. 


—  BECKTOLD  — 

PRINTING  AND  BOOK  AlFG.  GO. 
ST.  LOUIS,  AlO. 


TO  THE  FRIENDS 

WHO  HAVE  HELPED  HIM 

TO  BEAR  THE  BURDEN  OF  LIFE 

IN  UNION  WITH   THE  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST, 

AND  IN  THE   HOPE 

OF  HIS  ETERNAL   FRIENDSHIP 

THE  AUTHOR  DEDICATES 

THIS  BOOK  WRITTEN  ESPECIALLY  FOR  THEM. 


(5) 


SEEN   AND   APPROVED: 

Fr.  Joseph  Hebert,  Fr.  Dalm.  Sertillanges, 

Led.  en  Theol.  Led.  en  Thiol. 


IMPRIMATUR. 

Fr.  Raym.  Boiilanger, 

Provincial  of  France. 


(7) 


INDEX 


BOOK  I. 

Page. 

The  Most  Holy  Virgin  Mary    .  .  -45 

Saint  Joseph    .  .  .  .  .  -85 

The  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  Jesns-Christ   116 
Zachary  and  Elizabeth     .  .  .  .148 

The  Precursor       .  .  .  .  .169 

The  Fatherland  of  Jesus-Christ         .  .199 


BOOK  II. 

1.  Lazarus  .......  227 

2.  Martha 265 

3.  Mary  Magdalen 310 


BOOK  III. 

The  Apostles 353 

Saint  Peter 388 

James  the  Greater  and  John  the  Evangelist  420 

The  Disciples  and  the  Holy  Women  .  454 

The  Converts  of  Jesus  Christ     .  .  .  480 

The  Church 515 

Epilogue 537 


(9) 


PREFACE 

TO 

THE  FRIENDSHIPS   OF  JESUS. 

BY 

MICHAEIv  M.   O'KANE   O.  P. 


<ii) 


PREFACE. 

We  need  scarcely  make  an  apology  for  intro- 
ducing a  work  by  Pere  Ollivier  to  English  readers. 
His   name   is   not   confined   to   France.     He   lias 
established  a  reputation,  as  an  eloquent  preacher 
and  cultured  writer,  that  has  travelled  far  beyond 
the  confines  of  his  native  country.     He  styles  his 
book  a  simple  study,    which  he  dedicates  to  his 
friends,  but  we  find  in  it  evidence  of  research  and 
learning  that  betrays  the  modesty  of  the  author. 
The  better  to  prepare  himself  for  his  work,  several 
months  were  spent  in  Palestine,  visiting  the  scenes 
that  witnessed  the  friendships  of  the  Redeemer, 
and  the  book  has  received  a  setting  worthy  of  the 
characters  it  portrays.     Pere  Ollivier  is  profoundly 
versed   in    the    literature    of    the    age.       He    has 
measured  the  evils  it  contains  and  the   good  of 
which  it  is  capable,  with  a  precision  that  few  can 
equal,   and    he   is   thoroughly  equipped   both   by 
experience  and   knowledge   to   grapple  with   the 
social  and  religious  problems  that  agitate  society, 
and  to  point  out  the  surest  way  of  remedying  the 
calamities    he    so    eloquently   deplores.  ^      These 
calamities   are   not    confined    to    the    domain   of 
morals,   they  enter  into  our  social  life  and  have 

1    Cf.   Conferences  —  Nos  malheurs,    leurs  causes,    leur 
reinMe. 

(13) 


14  PREFACE. 

permeated  every  grade  of  society.  '^Paganism 
which  surrounds  us  on  all  sides  has  in  particular 
penetrated  our  life  of  affection.  Marriage,  pater- 
nity, the  family,  not  alone  suffer  from  its  deadly 
poison,  but  love  is  reduced  to  its  lowest  degrada- 
tion. Friendship  no  longer  retains  its  traditional 
nobility  and  awakes  but  by  inefficacious  gleams 
in  hearts  that  are  engrossed  by  business  and 
pleasure."  ^ 

The  philosophy  of  the  Cynics  has  been  revived 
in  a  later  age,  and  its  influence  is  felt  in  modern 
life.  Spinosa  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the 
''natural  state  of  man  was  not  peace  but  ¥/ar;"  ^ 
and  that  "by  nature  each  has  the  right  to  do  what 
his  strength  warrants."  "  It  must  have  been  from 
such  principles  that  Hobbes  drew  the  conclusion 
that,  "Everything  is  right  which  is  in  our  power, 
or  which  seems  to  minister  to  our  wants.  Fraud 
and  violence  are  two  fundamental  virtues,  mine 
and  thine  do  not  exist.  Danger  and  fear  of  violent 
death,  all  warring  against  all  —  such  is  the  life  of 
man,  an  existence,  solitary,  sordid  and  animal."  ^ 
If  we  come  down  to  more  recent  times  we  shall  find 
the  same  doctrine  propounded  by  the  modern 
materialistic  school.  Bastian  tells  us  that  "man 
has  neither  virtue  nor  vice,  he  has  but  the  instinct 
of  necessary  and  imperative  propensities. ' '  ^     We 

^     Epilogue. 

2  Tract.  Politic,  1,  5.  - 

3  Ibidem  2,  4. 

^    Cf.  IvKCHiyER  —  Geschichte  des  Englische7i  Deismus,  79. 
5    Man  iu  History,  III,  258. 


PREFACE.  15 

shall  search  humanistic  literature  in  vain  for  a 
solid  basis  on  which  the  social  relations  may 
repose.  Pagan  Philosophy  places  man  in  isolation, 
tramples  on  human  dignity  and  ignores  the  natural 
rights  of  all  men  to  equality.  Hence  we  find 
Kpictetus  declare  that  ''the  wise  man  should  care 
for  nothing  but  himself;  parents,  brothers,  children 
and  country  should  be  to  him  no  matter  of  con- 
cern.'^^  "You  may  manifest  externally  the  sym- 
pathy you  feel  for  one  in  trouble,  take  care  however 
that  you  be  not  internally  disturbed,  otherwise 
yoiir  peace  is  gone."  ^  These  words  of  the  Roman 
sage  have  a  strangely  realistic  sound,  for  perhaps 
in  no  age  more  than  the  present  has  egoism  been 
so  fully  developed.  Self-interest  constitutes  one  of 
man's  dearest  aims,  and  sometimes  it  matters  little 
what  rights  are  sacrificed  in  its  attainment. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  modern  world  has 
made  progress,  but  can  we  say  that  this  progress 
contains  all  that  may  be  reasonably  desired  ?  It 
seems  to  have  been  rather  in  a  material  direction, 
and  social  relations  seem  to  have  declined  in  in- 
verse ratio  as  material  prosperity  has  increased. 
The  law  of  God  tells  us  to  love  one  another  and 
bear  one  another's  burdens,  but  the  tendency  of 
modern  development  rather  imposes  the  command, 
"avoid  one  another."  The  acquisition  of  wealth 
estranges  man  from  man,  and  sets  up  a  barrier 
against  social  intercourse,  that  may  not  be  passed 

1  Manuale  II.  Diss.,  3,  3. 

2  Ibidem,  16, 


1 6  PREFACE. 

by  those  on  whom  fortune  has  not  bestowed  the 
golden  key.  Hegel,  the  German  rationalist  could 
never,  in  his  wildest  dreams,  have  foreseen  that 
his  philosophical  maxims  would  be  so  fully  realized 
as  they  are  at  the  present  day.  He  taught  that 
**property  is  the  essence  of  personality,  that  it  is 
the  condition  and  instrument  of  liberty. "  ^  ^  'With- 
out property,"  says  I^asson,  * 'there  is  neither 
personality  nor  individuality,  neither  will  nor 
liberty;"^  and  hence  Sauter  concludes,  "He  who 
possesses  nothing  cannot  make  his  mark  in  the 
world,  he  counts  as  nothing,  neither  is  he  of  any 
value.  He  is  like  a  body  without  hands  and  feet, 
a  will  which  has  neither  speech  nor  strength  at  its 
command.  If  he  can  do  nothing  of  himself,  he 
cannot  be  a  man,  for  property  alone  can  constitute 
a  person."  ^ 

Notwithstanding  all  these  revolting  theories  we 
find  men  of  the  same  type  accusing  Christianity  of 
the  destruction  of  social  relations  and  duties. 
"Nature  has  destined  man  for  a  social  life,  to  love 
his  fellows,  to  live  according  to  the  principles  of 
justice.  It  has  commanded  him  to  be  law-abiding, 
to  do  good,  to  grant  to  and  to  procure  pleasure  for 
his  companions.  But  religion  counsels  him  to  fly 
society,  to  hate  creatures,  and  for  the  love  of  his 
God,  to  sever  the  most  sacred  bonds.  It  orders 
him  to  torment,  to  persecute,  to  torture,  to  put  to 
death,  everyone  who  will  not  submit  to  its  com- 

1  Philosophie  des  Rechtes,  S.  46  and  51. 

2  Ap.  Wkiss,  Apologie,  V.,  VII,  p.  264. 
^    Ibidem. 


PREFACE.  17 

mands."!  We  are  surprised  to  find  such  contra- 
dictions among  men  who  advocate  the  teachings  of 
naturalism,  and  one  is  forced  to  conclude  that 
much  of  their  writings  is  inspired  by  hatred  of 
Christianity  rather  than  by  love  of  truth.  We  are 
further  forced  to  admxit  that,  thanks  to  man's 
apostasy  from  Christian  principles,  the  state  oj 
nature  still  exists  on  earth  and  in  this  war  of  all 
against  all,  a  victim  of  vengeance  must  be  found, 
and  Christianity  is  compelled  to  experience  their 
rage  and  hate. 

It  does  not  require  much  thought  to  ascertain 
how  unjust  these  accusations  are.  Christianity 
has  a  twofold  office  to  accomplish.  It  must  teach 
man  the  duty  of  mutual  regard,  and  at  the  same 
time  safeguard  his  personal  dignity.  We  have 
only  to  peruse  the  Kpistles  of  Saint  Paul,  if  we 
would  learn  how  fully  it  has  executed  this  task.  — 
"Servants  obey  in  all  things  your  masters  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh,  not  serving  to  the  eye  as  pleasing 
men,  but  in  simplicity  of  heart,  fearing  God."  2 
"You  are  bought  with  a  price,  be  not  made  the 
bond  slaves  of  men."^  "It  remaineth  that  they 
be  as  though  they  possessed  not,  and  they  that  use 
this  world,  as  if  they  used  it  not,  for  the  fashion  of 
this  world  passeth  away."  *  By  this  doctrine  man 
is  rendered  free,  in  his  person,  in  his  thoughts,  in 
his  conscience,  in  his  will,  and  the  respect  he  owes 

1  Systhne  de  la  nature,  1.  2,  ch.  9,  apud  Valsecchi. 

2  Coi,.,  Ill,  22. 

3  1  Cor.  VII,  23. 
*  Ibidem,  30—31. 


1 8  PREFACE. 

to  constituted  authority  is  safeguarded  by  the 
inspired  counsel  he  receives.  Christianity  assures 
all  men  an  equality  of  position  before  God,  with 
whom  '^there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is 
neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor 
female."  ^  Secondary  and  purely  external  differ- 
ences of  rich  and  poor,  master  and  servant,  noble 
and  plebeian  disappear  in  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion since  man  finds  therein  his  importance  and 
native  dignity. 

In  restoring  to  man  his  personal  dignity, 
Christianity  has  established  and  fostered  mutual 
,  regard  among  men;  for  '^every  man  shall  associate 
with  his  like."  2  jje  must  therefore  love  his 
fellows  as  soon  as  he  recognises  the  same  dignity 
he  has  been  brought  to  esteem  in  himself.  The 
doctrines  of  ancient  and  modern  naturalism  make 
universal  fellowship  impossible,  but  Christianity 
teaches  us  to  regard  humanity  not  as  a  mere 
material  quantity  in  which  all  participate,  but  as  a 
real  and  living  personality,  common  to  all,  by  a 
common  descent,  from  a  common  father,  and  that 
man  is  not  a  purely  physical  unit,  but  a  being 
endowed  with  free-will  and  responsible  for  all  his 
actions.  In  the  natural  order  Christianity  perfects 
our  social  relations,  and  still  more  by  its  super- 
natural teachings,  which  destine  all  men  to  form 
one  great  family  united  by  faith  and  grace,  ^  and 

1  Gai,at.  Ill,  28. 

2  Kccu.,  XIII,  9. 

3  I  Cor.,  X,  17. 


PREFACE.  19 

striving  for  the  same  eternal  end,  not  only  as 
associates  in  the  natural  order,  but  as  spiritual 
friends.  The  legislation  of  the  Catholic  Church 
tends  in  this  direction,  in  creating  the  impediments 
of  matrimony.  Social  relations  are  thereby  enlarged 
and  confirmed,  families  hitherto  strangers  to  one 
another  are  brought  together,  and  further  connec- 
tion among  those  already  allied  is  prohibited.  ^ 

Christianity  is  charged  with  the  suppression  of 
the  natural  emotions  of  the  human  heart,  and  this 
is  particularly  true  of  the  virtue  of  friendship.  It 
directs  man's  thoughts  towards  Heaven,  and  its 
revealed  doctrines  make  no  provision  for  his 
relations  with  his  fellows  while  on  earth.  "Private 
friendship,"  says  Shaftesbury,  "and  zeal  for  the 
common  good  and  our  country,  are  virtues  that  in 
a  Christian  are  absolutely  voluntary;  they  are  in  no 
way  an  essential  part  of  his  fraternal  charity." 
The  doctrine  of  the  English  deist  has  been  repeated 
in  eveiy  subsequent  age,  under  different  forms,  but 
with  the  same  veiled  hostility  to  revealed  religion. 
Friendship  occupies  a  prominent  place  in 
divine  revelation,  and  commentators  on  the  sacred 
text  have  been  at  pains  to  place  it  in  the  clearest 
light.  ^  The  Scriptures  present  us  beautiful  ex- 
amples of  tender  and  devoted  friendship.  In  the 
Old  Testament  we  find  its  type  in  the  touching 
history  of  that  Jonathan  who  loved  David  as  his 
gQijl  —  of  that  David  who  loved  Jonathan  more 

1  Cf.  S.  Thomas,  Supp.  qq.  54  and  55. 

2  Cf.  CoRNKi^ius  A  IvAPiDE,  In  Eccli,,  VTI. 


20  PREFACE. 

than  a  mother  can  love  or  a  woman  be  loved  :  in 
the  vows  and  tears  and  embraces  which  sealed  the 
union  of  the  king's  son  with  the  .son  of  the 
shepherd.  ^  In  the  Gospels,  and  especially  in  that 
one,  the  author  of  which  has  not  feared  to  call 
himself  "the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,''  we  see 
the  radiance  of  that  tender  friendship  which  the 
Son  of  man  vouchsafed.  Pere  Ollivier  has  painted 
these  friendships  of  Jesus  in  language  of  great 
beauty.  He  has  penetrated  into  the  sanctuary  of 
the  Master's  heart,  and  disclosed  the  expansion  of 
its  love  in  quest  of  souls.  The  Saviour  being  God 
did  not  require  mutual  sympathy  as  much  as  we, 
but  being  man  He  sought  tender  and  devoted 
hearts,  to  whom,  of  His  free  choice,  He  offered  the 
most  sincere  affection.  His  choice  of  friends  v/as 
not  confined  to  a  particular  class,  and  though  we 
may  trace  a  preference  in  the  selection,  the  heart 
of  the  Messiah  had  a  place  for  all.  Poverty  placed 
no  barrier  to  His  seeking  love ;  the  lowly,  the 
forgotten,  the  despised,  and  even  sinners  found  a 
place  in  its  embracing  tenderness.  The  dignity  of  I 
a  human  soul  rather  than  social  position  was  the 
standard  of  His  choice.  The  noble  family  of 
lyazarus  and  the  fishermen  washing  their  nets  on 
the  shores  of  lyake  Tiberias,  the  publican  and  the 
fallen  woman,  all  were  called  to  a  share  in  the 
Master's  love.  Wealth  and  position  had  no  claim 
on  Him,  who  came  to  redeem  a  world,  to  the| 
exclusion  of   those   whom  fortune  did  not  favour.! 

1     1  Ktwgs,  XVIII. 


PREFACE.  21 

"We  cannot,"  to  use  the  words  of  Pere  Ollivier, 
"be  too  grateful  to  Him  who  has  taught  us  to  love, 
in  conformity  with  our  dignity  as  rational  creatures, 
honoured  by  a  vocation  to  the  supernatural  life: 
and  since  this  should  include  a  desire  of  imitation 
we  cannot  be  too  solicitous  to  shape  our  life  of 
affection  on  His."  ^ 

Theologians  always  consecrate  a  special  treatise 
to  this  virtue,  which  was  so  conspicuous  in  our 
Lord's  life,  in  their  dogmatic  and  ascetical  writings. 
They   teach    that   friendship    is    a    psychological 
necessity  for  men  of  every  age  and  every  class,  ^  a 
means  of  moral  well-being,^  and  consequently  a 
virtue    in    the   truest   sense.     It  is,   according   to 
Saint  Thomas,*  a  special  and  independent  virtue, 
which  serves  as  a  complement  to  justice.     If  it  is 
manifested  in  merely  external  relations,  it  is  false 
and  has  no  merit  before  God,  ^     Although  Christi- 
anity teaches  us  to  love  all  men,  it  fosters  particu- 
lar affection,  provided  this  does  not  interfere  with 
the  general  charity  we  owe  to  all.     It  has  adopted 
the  teaching  of  Aristotle  that  "friendship  consists 
rather  in  bestowing  affection  than  in  receiving  it,"^ 
and  Saint  Thomas  affirms  that  each  of  us  in  this 
world   requires  a  friend    towards  whom  we    may 
exercise  o-ood  offices  and  who  in  turn  shall  be  our 


1  Epilogue. 

2  S.  Antoninus  II,  t.  8,  c.  5. 

3  S.  Franc,  de  Sai.ks,  Philothee,  3,  19. 

4  2,  2,  q.  114,  a.  1. 

5  Matt.,  X,  46. 

6  Eth.  8,  7. 


22  PREFACE. 

support  in  the  salutary  practice.  ^  Hence  the 
Angelic  Doctor  concludes  with  Saint  Augustine, 
that  friendships  are  necessary  for  our  happiness  in 
this  life.  2 

The  teachings  of  Revelation  and  Theologians 
on  friendship  have  been  realized  in  the  Catholic 
Church.  Thus  we  find  the  most  enthusiastic 
praises  of  individual  friendships  in  the  writings  of 
the  Fathers,  and  in  the  lives  of  the  hermits  of  the 
desert.  We  have  striking  examples  among  the 
saints.  Basil  and  Gregory,  Francis  and  Dominic, 
Thomas  and  Bonaventure,  may  be  cited  in  illustra- 
tion of  that  tender  affection  which  united  hearts 
entirely  devoted  to  God.  Where  can  we  find 
friendship  practised  in  a  more  heroic  degree  than 
in  the  cloister?  We  have  only  to  peruse  the 
historian  of  western  monachism  to  find  evidence  of 
mutual  regard  the  most  devoted.  "Everything," 
he  says,  ''invited  the  monks  to  choose  one  or 
several  souls  as  the  intimate  companions  of  their 
life,  and  to  consecrate  that  choice  by  an  affection, 
free  as  their  vocation,  pure  as  their  profession, 
tender  and  generous  as  their  youth.  Thus  initiated 
in  the  stainless  pleasure  of  a  union  of  hearts,  they 
could  again  with  the  sage  recognise  in  the  fidelity 
of  these  voluntary  ties,  a  'medicine  for  life  and 
immortality.'  "  ^ 

1  1,  2,  q.  4,  a.  8. 

2  Aug.     De    Vera  Relig.,   ATi.     Cf.   Amb.    Off.   3,   22.  — 
Chrys.,  I.     Thess.,  horn.  273. 

3  MoNTALEMBERT,  The  Monks  of  the  West.   V,  1.  c.  5. 


PREFACE.  23 

We  have  then  in  these  beautiful  pages  a  divine 
model  who  has  taught  us  the  value  of  friendship, 
and  as  all  laws  presuppose  a  healthy  state  of 
morals,  these  in  turn  presuppose  well  regulated 
affections  on  which  all  true  progress  must  repose. 
We  shall  find  their  perfect  type  and  ideal  in  Jesus 
Christ  and  those  whom  He  called  to  share  in  the 
emotions  of  His  heart. 

MiCHAEi.  M.  O'Kane  O.   p. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

INTRODUCTION. 
I. 

Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God,  is  equally  Son  of 
man  ;  and  if  from  the  first  filiation  there  results  in 
Him  the  perfection  of  the  divine  nature  and  life, 
from  the  second  there  results  also  the  fulness 
of  human  nature  and  life.  ^  We  see  then  in 
Him  a  man  like  ourselves,  having  a  soul  identi- 
cal with  ours,  and  consequently,  capable  of  love 
as  we  are  ourselves;  yet  v/itli  this  difference,  that 
in  Him  there  could  be  no  self-deception  as  to 
the  object,  the  mode,  and  the  measure  of  His 
affections.  For  He  has  assumed  our  nature,  but 
not  our  sins,  of  which  He  could  become  the 
expiator  and  the  destroyer,  but  never  the  slave. 
Concupiscence  and  error,  and  the  weaknesses 
inherent  in  our  nature,  as  consequences  of  sin, 
were    unknown   to    Him.     He    could    experience 

1  Symb.  Nicaen:  "Deum  deDeo,  lumen  de  lumine,  Deum 
verum  de  Deo  vero,  genitum  non  factum,  consubstantialeiu 
Patri  ....     Et  homo  f actus  est." 

Symb.  Athanas:  "Deus  est  ex  substantia  Patris  ante  sae- 
cula  genitus,  et  homo  est  ex  substantia  matris  in  saeculonatus: 
perfectus  Deus  et  perfectus  homo,  ex  auima  rationali  et  hu- 
mana  carne  subsistens." 

(25) 


26  INTRODUCTION. 

sadness  and  suffering,  even  unto  death,  but  never 
the  dread  of  failure  in  the  intelligence  or  the  will. 

We  need  not  then  fear  the  reproach  of  impru- 
dence or  irreverence  in  attributing  to  Him  affec- 
tions similar  to  those  which  all  men  feel,  with 
the  reservations  which  accompany  His  excep- 
tional personality.  Jesus  Christ  was  loving  as 
we  :  He  has  loved  as  we,  and  the  perfection  of 
His  power  to  love  justifies  us  in  studying  more 
closely  this  point  of  contact  between  His  human- 
ity and  ours. 

How,  moreover,  could  we  incur  a  reproach  in 
imitating  the  language  of  the  Church  and  the 
Gospel,  or  if  this  expression  seems  more  exact, 
that  of  Jesus  Christ  Himself?  Not  only  does 
the  Church  say  of  Saint  Andrew  that  Jesus 
loved  Him  ^  —  not  only  does  Saint  John  call  him- 
self the  beloved  disciple^  and  affirm  that  he 
shared  the  affection  of  the  Master  with  James  the 
Greater,^  Martha,  Magdalen,  and  lyazarus^ — but 
the  Man-God  Himself  gives  the  name  of  friends  to 
His  apostles,  ^  and  to  him  v/hom  He  raised  to  life 
in  Bethany.  ^  He  caresses  the  little  children 
whose  importunity  the  disciples  feared.  ^  He 
pleads  the   cause  of  the  publican,  ^  of  the  sinner,  ^ 

1  "Dilexit  Andream."     (30.  Nov.) 

^  John,  XIII,  23  ;  —  XXI,  20. 

?  Mark,  V,  37.  —  Luke,  IX,  28  etc, 

4  John,  XI,  5. 

s  Luke,  XII,  4. —John,  XV,  14. 

6  John,  XI,  11. 

7  Matth.,  XVIII,  2.  —  Mark,  X,  14. 

8  Luke,  XVIII,  10,  and  following. 
»  Luke,  VII,  47. 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

of  the  woman  taken  in  adnltery,  ^  in  terms  of  ex- 
quisite tenderness  born  of  sympathetic  affection, 
sucli  as  binds  the  rescuer  to  the  souls  whom  He 
saves.  On  the  cross  there  arose  on  His  lips  in- 
effable accents  to  implore  pardon  for  His  execu- 
tioners, '^  and  to  open  Heaven  to  the  penitent 
thief.  ^  He  closes  His  life  of  love  on  earth  by 
the  gift  of  His  Mother  to  the  beloved  disciple,  in 
language  so  sweet  that  we  are  moved  to  tears.  ^ 
John  the  Evangelist  had  learned  from  Him  the 
delightful  appellation  with  which  He  so  often 
greeted  the  faithful  of  his  circle  when  he  wrote 
or  preached  to  them.  ^  It  is  He,  in  fine,  who 
has  formulated  the  law  of  love,  in  giving  as  a 
supreme  proof  of  it  —  to  die  for  those  to  ivliom  we 
protest  our  love.  ^ 

H. 

And  we  must  remember,  the  question  here  is 
not  one  of  supernatural  affection  only,  that  is  to 
say,  based  on  the  value  of  beings  in  the  eyes  of 
God  considered  as  their  last  end ;  but  also  of  a 
sentiment  entirely  natural,  of  their  beauty,  their 
charm,  their  value,  of  the  relation  whether  useful 
or  agreeable,  which  is  established  between  them 
and  us.  More  readily  and  better  than  we,  Jesus 
sees  in  them  the  divine  beauty  of  which  they  are 

1  John,  VIII,  10. 

2  Luke,  XXIII,  34. 

3  Ivuke,  XXIII,  43. 

4  John,  XIX,  26, 

5  "Filioli."  —  Mark,  X,  24.  —John,  XIII,  33. 

6  John,  XV,  13. 


28  INTRODUCTION, 

scarcely  the  shadow,  the  service  which  they  render 
to  the  Creator  in  the  accomplishment  of  His 
designs,  the  joy  which  their  utility  causes  Him, 
and  the  profit  which  they  derive  therefrom  :  for  all 
this  Jesus  conceives  an  esteem  and  a  love  of  which 
He  alone  can  give  us  the  measure.  It  is  true  that 
though  He  does  not  separate  in  His  heart,  charity 
properly  so  called,  from  natural  affection,  this 
latter  sentiment  existed  there,  real  and  distinct, 
with  its  special  activity  and  ordinary  effects. 
The  heart  of  Jesus  was  made  as  our  own  hearts; 
all  that  we  say  of  ourselves  in  this  respect,  we 
say  of  Him,  lessening  it  in  nothing,  since,  accord- 
ing to  Saint  Thomas  "the  natural  tendency  which 
draws  us  to  creatures  comes  from  the  Author  of  our 
nature, ' '  ^  that  is  to  say,  from  Him  who  is  God.  Let 
us  enter  then  without  any  hesitation  into  the  study 
of  this  divine  Heart,  where  abides  the  fulness  of 
love  and  grace,  sacred  treasury,  from  which  we 
should  derive  our  wealth,  drawing  therefrom  in  full 
measure  without  fear  of  ever  exhausting  it;  and 
may  He  cause  us  to  realise  in  our  heart  during  this 
study,  the  influence  ever  more  vivid  and  penetrat- 
ing, of  His  ineffable  perfection. 

HI. 

Love  has  three  principles  :  Hood  or  birth  — 
taste  or  temperament  —  choice  or  a  particular  mis- 
sion.    That    is    to  say  that  we  select  our  friends 

1  Sum.  Theol.,  1,  q,  IX,  1,  3.:  "Amor  naturalis  uihil 
aliud  est  quam  inclinatio  naturae  indita  ab  auctore  naturae 
ipsius." 


INTRODUCTION.  29 

from  those  who  are  of  the  same  blood,  who  have 
the  same  tastes,  and  the  same  vocation  ;  nature 
first,  the  attraction  of  resemblances,  the  congruity 
of  activity,  determine  our  attachments  and  our  in- 
timacy. ^  It  follows  thence  that  we  classify  human 
affections  according  to  the  relations  of  family  and 
country  —  those  free  preferences  whence  spring 
friendships  properly  so  called  —  and  those  neces- 
sary alliances  which  group  men  in  the  pursuit  of 
the  same  ideal  or  the  service  of  the  same  interest. 
By  divers  titles  and  in  variable  measures,  we  all 
obey  this  triple  law.  It  is  the  cause  of  our  joy, 
our  progress,  our  consolation,  and  our  hope ;  for 
union  makes  strength,  whilst  isolation  results  in 
weakness.  Happy  is  he  whom  a  faithful  friend- 
ship sustains.  '"^     "Woe  to  him  who  is  alone."  ^ 

Jesus  did  not  wish  to  be  alone,  even  at  the  last 
moment,  when  He  had  renounced  all  consolation, 
and  had  resigned  Himself  to  the  momentary 
abandonment  of  God.  In  entrusting  His  Mother 
to  the  beloved  apostle.  He  did  not  send  them  away 
from  His  cross,  at  the  foot  of  which  stood  also 
Magdalen.  The  Son,  the  Friend,  the  Master,  died 
before  the  eyes  of  His  mother.  His  friend,  and  His 
disciple.  All  His  life  bore  the  impress  of  the 
same  solicitude  :  He  wished  to  be  loved  and  to 
give  love  for  love. 

1  Summ.  Theol.,  loc.  cit. 

2  Kccle.,  VI,  14  andl6:    "Amicus  fidelis  protectio  fortis 
....  amicus  fidelis  medicamentum  vitae." 

s  Eccle.,  IV,  10:  "Vae  soli,  quia  cum  ceciderit  uon  habet 
sublevantem  se." 


30  INTRODUCTION. 

Tlie  affections  of  the  family  were,  for  Him  as 
for  us  the  first,  those  which  filled  the  largest  part 
ill  His  life,  at  least  in  point  of  time,  since  He  did 
not  manifest  Himself  until  the  age  of  thirty  years. 
Mary  —  Joseph — the  sister  of  Mary,  her  spouse 
and  her  children  —  Zachary,  Elizabeth,  John  the 
Baptist  —  such  are  the  privileged  ones  to  v/honi 
were  given  the  first  emotions  of  His  heart.  The 
Evangelist  discreetly  glides  over  the  years  thus 
occupied,  because  it  is  unnecessary  to  inform  us 
that  Jesus  loved  His  earthly  family.  To  put  His 
heavenly  Father  in  the  first  place  did  not  hinder 
Him  from  giving  an  honorable  position  to  the 
woman  who  had  conceived  and  borne  Him  in  time, 
and  the  Spouse  from  whom  she  had  received  aid 
and  protection  in  the  accomplishment  of  her  duties 
tov/ard  Him.  ^^Bid  it  not  become  Hmi^^^  as  He 
said  Himself  "/o  fulfil  all  justice^''^  and  could  He 
free  Himself  from  the  perfect  observance  of  the 
fourth  of  His  own  commandments?^  To  insist, 
then,  on  His  filial  love,  were  useless,  were  it  not 
for  the  satisfaction  of  our  pious  curiosity,  and  in 
this  the  Gospel  gives  us  but  little  assistance,  as 
Saint  Anselni  has  justly  remarked. 

What  we  say  of  the  relatives  of  Jesus  applies  to 
the  other  members  of  His  terrestial  family  —  in  a 
less  degree,  it  is  true,  because  man  is  not  wont  to 
manifest  an  equal  affection  for  those  whom  he  does 
not  consider  equally  near.      Besides   the  brothers 

1  Matt.  Ill,  15. 

^  Kxod.,  XX,  12.  "Houora  patrem  tuum  et  matrem 
tuam." 


INTRODUCTION.  3 1 

and  sisters,  children  of  the  same  mother,  and  in 
whom  each  of  us  finds  his  other  self,  there  are 
friends  indicated,  but  not  imposed  upon  us,  at  least 
by  the  same  title;  and  every  choice  on  our  part, 
while  investing  some  with  particular  rights,  pro- 
portionately diminishes  the  general  right  to  which 
others  can  lay  claim.  Jesus  had  neither  brothers 
nor  sisters,  but  only  cousins,  the  sons  of  Mary 
Cleophas,  and  those  of  Mary  Salome  —  the  same 
that  a  ridiculous  pedantry  considers  children  of  the 
Virgin-Mother.  The  youngest,  James  the  Greater 
and  John  the  Evangelist,  were  preferred  by  the 
Master,  as  we  shall  see  ;  but  He  deigned  to  place 
the  others  among  His  friends,  when  He  made  them 
His  disciples  and  His  apostles. 

Patriotism  or  love  of  country  has,  like  filial 
love,  its  foundations  in  our  nature,  and  flourishes 
in  the  soul  as  soon  as  it  is  capable  of  knowing  its 
value.  But  it  does  not  require  to  be  a  virtue  to 
become  a  powerful  sentiment,  of  which  even  child- 
hood feels  the  influence.  We  love  instinctively 
the  country  in  which  w^e  were  born,  long  before  we 
recognise  our  obligations  towards  it.  For  us  it  has 
a  charm  independent  of  its  beauty  —  questionable 
to  those  whom  it  has  not  fostered  —  and  which 
we  realise  more  fully  when  we  are  deprived  of  it  by 
absence.  We  feel  that  a  necessary  good  has  been 
struck  out  of  our  lives  ;  ^  we  desire  ardently  to 
return  ;  we  rejoice  to  re-enter  it,  though  it  re- 
serves   for   us    but    ruins  and  tombs.      All    other 

1  Psalm,  CXXXVI,  1-7;  Thren,  I,  1 ;  Macch.,  XIII,  11  et 
14  :  XIV,  18,  etc. 


32  INTRODUCTION. 

skies  are  less  limpid  ;    all  other  horizons  are  less 
bright,   and,   with  Peter  de   Medici,  we  say  of  the 
lands  of  our  exile,  sweet  as  they  are  to  others: 
*'Non  e  niio  '1  caro  nido 
Non  e  la  patria. ' '  ^ 
Age  perfects  patriotism,  but  does  not  create  it.     If 
then  we  find  in  Jesus,   arrived  at  the  age  of  man- 
hood, all  the  tenderness  of  this  love,   it  is  because 
He    felt  it  in  His  infancy.      His  tears  shed  over 
Jesusalem  ^  recall  the  smiles  which  formerly  saluted 
Nazareth  on  His  return  from  Paschal  excursions, 
and  later  the  sadness  of  the  farewell  to  the  city 
which,  far  from  honouring  its  prophet,  had  striven 
to  put  Him  to  death.  ^ 

F^amily  and  country  never  lose  their  claims  ; 
but  they  share  them  with  other  affections,  born  of 
our  free  choice,  at  the  time  when,  completely 
masters  of  our  own  hearts,  we  bear  their  homage 
to  new  altars.  For  the  generality  of  men  the  dis- 
tribution is  rarely  equal.  Jesus  was  a  notable 
exception  in  this  respect,  because  He  could  give 
Himself  up  entirely  to  His  new  affections,  without 
diminishing  in  the  least  what  He  reserved  for  the 
old  :  the  perfection  which  is  in  Him  is  manifested 
everywhere  in  the  same  degree,  and  this  is  one  of 
the  most  convincing  proofs  of  His  divinity. 

Friendships,  properly  so  called,  that  is  to  say 
the  intimate   relations   established  between   heart 

1  "Not  there  is  the  nest  of  my  love;  It  is  not  my 
country  1"     (Cf.  Audin.     Leon  X.) 

2  Luke,  XIX,  41. 

3  Mark,  VI,  4 ;  Luke,  IV,  24. 


INTRODUCTION.  33 

and  heart,  soul  and  soul,  begotten  of  mtmigihle 
suitaUlity,  as  Lacordaire  aptly  remarks,  ^  are  in  no 
way  impaired,  varied  though  v/e  may  suppose 
them;  they  participate  in  the  nature  of  the  spirit, 
capable  of  giving  itself  without  reserve,  and  of 
remaining  itself  unimpaired  for  a  new  outpouring. 
The  friends  of  maturity  take  nothing  from  those 
of  youth,  and  the  tender  looks  of  the  old  man  bent 
on  childish  innocence  do  no  injustice  to  him 
whose  silver  locks  he  still  caresses. 

IV. 
One  sentiment  alone,  however  noble  and  de- 
lightful it  may  be,  love,  strictly  so  called,  —  is 
exclusive  and  tyrannical.  It  separates  and  absorbs; 
its  distinctive  characteristic  is  jealousy  —  its  end 
the  captivity  of  the  heart,  which  considers  that  it  is 
eliciting  an  act  of  supreme  liberty  in  substituting  it 
for  the  involuntary  affections  of  early  life.  We  can 
have  several  friendships;  it  is  impossible  to  have 
more  than  one  love. 

But  by  His  nature  and  His  destiny,  Jesus  could 
admit  nothing  into  His  life  that  was  exclusive  and 
tyrannical.  He  had  taken  from  humanity  what  was 
necessary  to  save  it,  but  nothing  more  :  He  be- 
longed then  to  every  soul,  without  distinction  of 
age  or  condition,  not  to  some  only,  still  less  to  one 
alone,  and  the  preferences  which  He  had  the  right 
to  allow  Himself,  could  not  tend  to  impose  upon 
Him  the  yoke  of  an  exclusive  affection.  With  His 
divine  hand  He  could  touch  this  yoke  to  bless  and 

1  "Sainte  Marie-Madeleiue."  ch.  1. 


34  INTRODUCTION. 

sanctify  it  ;  but  He  never  made  it  other  than  the 
symbol  of  His  union  with  the  Church,  that  is  to 
say,  with  all  souls.  ^ 

It  is  this  which  stamps  the  friendships  of  Jesus 

Christ  with  an  inimitable  seal:  they  carry  Him  to  a 

/  height  to  which  none  can  attain,  and  whatever  may 

I  be  their  object,  they  preserve  the  same  supernatural 

I  character.     The  most  perfect  men  love  like  men; 

Jesus  alone  loves  as  God. 

The  Gospel  has  carefully  noted  the  favourites  of 
the  Master:  they  are  few  in  number  and  contained 
in  a  few  lines.  ''There  was  a  man  called  Lazarus 
who  was  sick  at  Bethany,  in  the  town  of  Mary  and 
Martha,  her  sister  ....  Now  Jesus  loved  Martha 
and  her  sister  Mary,  and  I^azarus.^"  ''Jesus," 
says  Pere  Lacordaire,  "had  then  in  Bethany  an 
entire  family  of  friends.  It  was  there,  when  com- 
ing to  Jerusalem,  the  city  where  He  should  con- 
summiate  His  sacrifice,  that  He  reposed  from  the 
fatigues  of  preaching  and  the  painful  prospects  of 
the  future.  TJiere  were  hearts,  pure  and  devoted, — 
(friends;  there  this  incomparable  blessing  of  an 
affection  that  was  proof  against  everything.  It  was 
/  also  from  Bethany  that  He  set  out  to  make  His 
'  triumphant  entry  into  Jerusalem;  and  it  was  in 
sight  of  Bethany,  His  face  turned  towards  its 
walls  on  the  Eastern  side,  that  He  ascended  into 
Heaven,  at  an  almost  equal  distance   from  Calvary 

1  Kphes.,  V,  32.     "This  is  a  great  sacrament :  but  I  speak 
in  Christ  and  in  the  Church." 
-  John,  XI,  1  and  5. 


INTRODUCTION.  35 

where  He  died,  and  the  house  where  He  was  most 
loved."! 

Such  are  the  only  friends  given  to  Jesus  by  the 
spontaneous  emotions  of  His  heart.  "There,  was 
the  consummation  of  His  affections  human  and 
divine^  in  this  world;  nothing  had  prepared  the 
world  for  it,  and  the  world  shall  never  again  see 
but  an  obscure  image  of  it,  in  the  most  holy  and 
most  heavenly  friendships."-  Saint  John,  "the 
Evangelist  of  the  Heart  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  object 
of  His  predilections,"  did  not  ovx^e  this  privilege 
to  a  similarity  of  disposition  alone  ;  he  was  pre- 
destined for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  was 
chosen  associate  of  the  Mission  of  the  Messiah, 
still  more  than  as  a  confidant  of  His  sorrows  and 
His  joys.  He  was  His  favourite  among  the  apostles, 
but  it  seems  he  did  not  share,  as  much  as  Martha 
and  Magdalen,  in  that  mysterious  gratuity  which 
is  ahvays  of  the  very  essence  of  His  love.  The 
friends,  par  excellence^  of  Jesus  are  indicated  by 
these  words  of  John  himself :  "He  loved  I^azarus, 
Martha  and  Mary  her  sister." 

V. 

Affection  looks  not  only  for  confidants  and  con- 
solers in  a  life  of  intimacy;  it  determines  also  the 
associates  and  helpers  in  the  work  to  which  we 
devote  our  external  activity.  But  we  do  not  find  in 
this  choice,  the  same  independence  which  we  have 
just   mentioned.     Vocation,    that   is   to   say,    the 

^  "Sainte  Marie-Madeleine,"  ch.  11. 
2  Ibid.,  ch.  1. 


36  INTRODUCTION. 

superior  will  of  which  w^e  are  but  the  agents,  indi- 
cates, so  to  speak,  the  names  which  are  to  be  linked 
with  ours:  the  higher  it  is,  the  more  imperious 
it  becomes,  and  supposes  a  more  complete  sacrifice 
f  of  our  personal  tastes,  in  the  choice  of  our  asso- 
ciates. (They  must  be  friends,  to  bear  a  part  of 
our  burden,  and  to  follow  us  to  the  very  end;  but 
above  all,  they  must  be,  like  ourselves,  the  ser- 
I  vants  of  the  cause  entrusted  to  us.  Hence  we  ask 
'  of  our  associates  much  more  than  of  our  confidants; 
and  the  indulgences,  not  to  mention  the  weak- 
nesses permitted  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  could 
not  be  allowed  when  there  is  question  of  the 
former.  It  would  be  senseless,  culpable  even,  not 
to  proportion  the  means  to  the  end,  the  instruments 
to  the  task,  the  associates  to  the  work;  and  we 
dare  not  suppose  that  Jesus  did  not  subordinate  the 
choice  of  His  apostles  to  the  knov/ledge  that  He 
had  of  His  mission  on  earth.  That  He  designed 
to  establish  His  divine  power  by  the  slender  re- 
sources resident  in  humanity,  nothing  is  more  easy 
to  conceive.  There  remained  simply  for  Him  the 
obligation  of  supplementing  this  insufficiency  by 
His  grace,  and  to  show  His  liberality  in  proportion 
to  the  incapacity  of  those  v/hom  He  had  chosen. 
He  must  have  found  or  made  them  capable  of 
,  union  with  Him  for  the  effort :  and  for  this  reason 
I  He  should  constitute  in  the  equality  required  for 
all  friendship,  as  many  friends  as  He  should  have 
disciples  or  apostles.  ^ 

1  John.  XV.  14.     **You   are   iny   friends,    if  you   do  the 
things,  that  I  command  you." 


INTRODUCTION.  37 

Perhaps  we  should  rightly  call  friends  those  \ 
particularly  who  devote  themselves  to  the  same  1 
work  and  share  with  us  its  successes  and  its  failures.  ' 
The  Gospel  does  this,  contrary  to  our  habits  of 
thought  and  language,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the 
place  which  it  gives  to  the  early  faithful  and  to  the 
first  preachers  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  If  it  con- 
secrates to  Magdalen,  to  Martha,  to  Lazarus,  some 
pages  of  unparalleled  charm,  it  has,  to  speak  ac- 
curately, been  written  to  bring  out  the  other  figures 
into  relief  —  Peter,  Andrew,  John  and  their 
brethren  in  the  apostolic  vocation.  It  is  in  them 
that  the  Master  delights  —  to  them  that  He  dis- 
closes the  secrets  of  His  heart  ^  —  they  whom  He 
glorifies  by  His  familiarity,  while  waiting  to  seat 
them  around  Him  on  the  thrones  from  which  they 
will  judge  Israel-^  —  they  whom  He  invites  first  to 
drink  of  His  chalice  and  to  carry  His  cross,  in 
order  to  enter  with  Him  into  the  eternal  kingdom.  ^ 
That  which  He  gives  to  His  hosts  of  Bethany  may 
seem  more  confidential  and  tender;  but  He  is  more 
Himself  in  reality  in  the  confidences  by  which  the 
apostles  profited  on  the  course  of  a  life  spent  with 
Him,  and  above  all,  on  the  evening  of  his  last 
supper.  ^     His  chosen   friends  are  the  propagators 

1  John,  XV,  15.     "I  will  not  now  call  you   servants  ;     for 
the  servant  knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doth,"  etc. 

2  Matth.,  XIX,  28.     "You  also  shall   sit  on  twelve  seats, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel." 

3  Matth.,   XX,   23,   "Of  my  chalice,   indeed,    you    shall 
drink":  etc. 

4  John,  XIV,  XVII. 


38  INTRODUCTION. 

of  His  word,  and  the  martyrs,  the  co-redeemers  of 
souls,  the  associates  of  His  sacrifice  and  His  im- 
molation. 

VI. 
It  seems,    nevertheless,     that  we    take   useless 
trouble  in  seeking  to  graduate  the  sentiments  of 
the  heart  of  Jesus  Christ.     We  have  already  said 
this  heart  is  that  of  a    Man-God,  that  is  to  say, 
of  a  perfect  Being,  although  resembling  ours  ;   of 
a  Being  in  whom  v/e  can  recognise  ourselves,  it  is 
true,  but  as  the  reflection  of  His  ineffable  beauty. 
We  know  that  He  is  loving,  and  we  apply  to  Him 
the  same  laws  of  life  as  to  our  own  hearts,  with- 
out ever  arriving    at  an  exact  knowledge  of  His 
emotions  and  His  attachments.     Why  then  under- 
take what    we    cannot    achieve?       And    notwith- 
standing Lacordaire  says,   "Even  in  predilection 
itself,  there  are   predilections,  so  profound  a  senti- 
ment is  love,  that  it  embraces  an  endless  hierar- 
chy.    Can  we  penetrate   this  mystery?     Is  it  per- 
mitted to  us  to  look  into  it  with  the  Gospel,  and 
to    bring    thereto    the    sanctified    curiosity    of    a 
I     .stainless  worship?      I  think    so.     One    could  not 
•  I  know  too  well  where  the  heart  of  the  Master  was 
•'  centred,    in    order    to    know  whom    we    ought  to 
love    most    with    Him    and    after    Him.      If    the 
p      Christian    seeks    in    the    dust    the    trace   of    the 
c^    j  Saviour's    steps,    how    much    more    ought   he  to 
I  seek  in  the  Gospel  the  trace  of  His  affections!"^ 
We  seek  them  instinctively  and  we  find  them 
there  in  fact,  not  only  to  the  delight  of  our  imagi- 

1  "Sainte  Marie-Madeleine."     ch.  11. 


INTRODUCTION.  39 

nation,  but  with  complete  certainty.  Mary  Mag- 
dalen, John,  Simon- Peter,  stand  out  from  the 
group  of  the  friends  of  Jesus,  in  a  light  and  relief 
that  leave  no  doubt  of  their  pre-eminence  :  they 
hold  the  first  place  in  His  affection.  Nazareth, 
Capharnaum,  Jerusalem,  Bethany,  hold  among 
the  places  He  loved  a  similar  position,  and  the 
silhouette  of  the  Master  stands  out  more  promi- 
nently on  their  chosen  horizons.  It  is  then 
allowed  us  to  penetrate  into  the  intimacy  of  His 
affections  and  to  enjoy  them  in  complete  certainty 
and  tranquillity:  we  have  not  to  imagine,  since 
we  are  permitted  to  understand, — with  the  same 
guarantees  on  which  our  knowledge  is  based,  when 
it  bears  upon  a  man  like  ourselves. 

vn. 

We  cannot  repeat  it  too  often,  the  Gospel  is 
much  less  cautious  than  we  imagine ;  to  those 
who  wish  to  listen,  it  speaks  fully  and  with 
sufficient  clearness  to  satisfy  their  lawful  desire  of 
advancing  in  the  intimacy  of  Jesus.  Doubtless 
we  shall  not  find  there  the  minutest  development 
of  the  psychological  studies  of  our  time,  where 
nothing  seems  complete  unless  it  exhausts  the 
idea  and  the  expression,  in  order  to  avoid  any 
strain  on  our  intellectual  sloth,  or  to  guard 
against  the  insufficiency  of  our  attention.  It 
proceeds  on  broad  lines,  v/ith  light  touches, 
indicating  rather  than  determining,  in  order  to 
allow  us  the  pleasure  of  discovery,  —  the  most 
delicate  and  the  most  intense  of  pleasures  —  with- 


40  INTRODUCTION. 

out  Speaking  of  the  profit  with  which  it  is  always 
accompanied  in  similar  cases.  But  slight  though 
these  indications  are,  and  however  rapid  these 
sketches  appear,  they  are  so  lively  and  neat  that 
they  are  much  preferable  to  long  descriptions  and 
analyses.  In  certain  subjects  vagueness  arises 
from  a  crowding  of  details  much  more  than  from 
their  absence:  the  figure  of  Magdalen  has  in  the 
Gospel  an  incomparable  vigour  and  brightness, 
even  though  she  occupies  a  very  limited  space. 
We  can  say  as  much  of  several  others,  luminous 
and  striking  in  a  supreme  degree,  aided  by  a  few 
lines  or  even  a  few  words,  whose  mystery  an  at- 
tentive mind  easily  penetrates. 

Let  us  not  forget  however  that  the  Gospel  is 
above  all  intelligible  to  those  familiar  with  the 
holy  Scriptures  and  the  history  of  Israel.  The 
Redeemer  is  a  Jew,  as  also  are  His  friends:  their 
temperament,  their  character,  their  life,  that  is  to 
say  their  physiognomy,  are  comprehended  only 
by  a  profound  study  of  Jewish  beliefs  and  Jewish 
customs,  disposed  to  modification  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  new  revelation.  We  must  then,  if 
we  are  allowed  the  expression,  be  of  the  house 
of  Bethany,  to  understand  and  explain  the  divine 
guest  who  takes  shelter  there,  hidden  from  the 
indifferent  and  the  indiscreet;  Martha  and  Mary 
I  alone  know  Him  sufficiently  to  appreciate  and 
'  describe  adequately,  the  charm  of  His  intimacy. 
But  the  confidences  of  Martha  and  Magdalen 
are  not  the  only  ones  in  the  Gospel:  John  has 
warned  us  on  the  contrary  that  the  sacred    book 


INTRODUCTION.  4 1 


requires  a  supplement,  ^  on  this  point  as  on  others, 
and  that  is  why  we  look  to  tradition  to  learn 
what  the  Scripture  lacks.  The  early  Christians, 
immediate  witnesses,  transmitted  to  the  following- 
generation  the  recollections  which  these  handed 
on  by  a  compilation  more  or  less  precise,  accord- 
ing to  the  tastes  of  each  scribe  or  of  those  at  the 
request  of  whom  they  wrote.  Although  these  have 
not  the  value  of  the  Gospel  text,  they  are  never- 
theless of  great  value,  and  even  when  dross  is 
mingled  with  pure  gold,  they  remain  an  indis- 
pensable commentary  on  the  sacred  book.  We 
hear  much  less  of  the  Apocrypha  than  of  the 
Fatrology  of  the  first  centuries.  The  disciples  of 
the  apostles  in  Judea  and  elsewhere  have  almost 
the  same  authority  as  their  masters,  and  those 
whom  they  instructed  directly,  possess  little  less  in 
our  estimation.  Such  is  the  tradition  to  which 
w^e  appeal  when  the  testimony  of  the  Gospel  is 
wanting:  to  establish  it  thoroughly  is  our  principal 
care,  since  this  suffices  to  give  to  it  all  the  force 
which  its  testimony  brings.  The  figure  of  the 
Master  had  impressed  itself  too  vividly  on  those 
who  studied  Him  carefully,  to  undergo  an  appreci- 
able change  in  the  portrait  sketched  according  to 
their  direction  and  under  their  guidance.  The 
imprudence  even  of  the  Apocrypha  did  not  go  so 
far  as  to  pervert  this  image  beyond  recognition; 
with  much  more  reason  ought  we  to  feel  at  ease 
as  far  as  the  martyrs  are  concerned,  since   to  them 

J  John,  XXI,  25. 


42  INTRODUCTION. 

we  owe  the  earliest  monuments  of  the  Catholic 
tradition. 

The  friendships  of  the  Master,  then  have  the 
same  claim  to  historical  accuracy  as  His  sufferings. 
We  study  them  and  relate  them  as  we  have  done 
in  our  essay  on  the  Passion,  drawing  from  the 
same  sources  and  applying  the  same  principles. 
We  have  no  pretensions  to  absolute  faith,  which 
is  based  only  on  dogmatic  teaching,  but  to  assent 
justified  by  the  probability  of  the  narrative  and  the 
accuracy  of  the  observations.  It  is  our  wish  that 
it  may  be  said  in  laying  down  the  book:  "It  is 
thus  that  these  things  ought  to  be  conceived,  be- 
cause it  is  thus  that  they  should  have  happened." 
The  pretension  is  the  highest,  we  admit,  but  with 
the  addition  that  we  have  endeavoured  to  the  best 
of  our  ability  to  render  it  tolerable. 

But  let  it  not  be  forgotten  however:  this  work 
is  only  an  essay,  after  which  the  field  remains  open 
to  all  efforts  with  a  more  just  hope  of  success. 
Shall  we  ever  have  the  joy  to  applaud  a  complete 
setting  of  this  incomparable  drama,  —  the  heart 
of  Jesus  expanding  in  friendship?  Why  not,  if  it 
pleases  our  divine  Friend?  While  waiting,  we 
thank  Him  from  the  depths  of  our  heart  for  the 
delightful  hours  He  has  permitted  us  to  pass  in 
the  consideration  of  this  Heart,  whence  proceeds 
all  light,  all  power,  all  hope,  and  we  pray  Him  to 
render  our  researches  profitable  to  those  who  are 
united  with  us,  here  below,  in  the  bonds  of  charity. 

Fr.  Marie  Joseph  Ollivier,  O.  P. 


FIRST   BOOK. 
FAMII.Y  FRIENDSHIPS, 


(43) 


FIRST  BOOK. 
FAMILY  FRIENDSHIPS. 

Chapter  I. 

The  Most   Koly  Virgin  Mary. 

Thou  art  all  fair,  tny  beloved,  and 
there  is  not  a  stain  in  thee. 

Cantic.  IV,  7. 

The  first  love  which  awakens  in  the  heart  of 
man  —  that  which  resists  all  sway  and  deception, 
and  the  trace  of  which  we  find  in  souls  and  lives 
most  sadly  poor,  —  is  the  love  of  a  child  for  its 
mother;  happy  pledge  of  first  efforts,  of  manhood's 
virtues,  and  of  late  conversions,  —  consolation  of 
most  severe  sorrows,  —  assurance  of  hope,  even 
when  we  expect  nothing  more  from  man,  and  the 
heavens  seem  closed.  If  this  love  is  wanting  in 
the  beginning  of  life,  nothing  can  replace  it.  The 
transport  which  impels  the  young  man  towards 
the  future  companion  of  his  way,  does  not  break 
v/ith  that  which  draws  him  to  his  mother.  The 
intoxication  of  pleasure,  of  fortune,  of  glory,  sub- 
tracts nothing  from  the  charm  of  .maternal  caresses 
and  confidences.  Strange  thing !  In  this  respect 
man,  whatever  he  may  fancy,  remains  always  the 
child  Saint  John  Chrysostom  portrays,  whose 
mother  is  the  most  perfect  and  most  beloved  of 

(45) 


46  ^HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

women. ^  He  considers  her  sncli,  and  wishes  that 
others  shall  do  likewise.  If  the  fairy  of  youth'^ 
borrows  her  charm  from  the  imagination  which 
has  created  her,  much  more  still  this  other 
enchantress  who  possesses  every  grace  and  power! 
What  son  has  not  performed  unconsciously  this 
work  of  improvement,  or  even  of  creation,  which 
places  his  mother  beyond  comparison,  however 
little  endowed  she  is  with  the  gifts  of  nature?  All 
love  is  creative,  filial  love  more  than  any  other, 
because  being  the  first,  the  strongest  and  the 
most  abiding,  it  requires  a  more  perfect  ideal. 

In  Jesus,  as  in  us,  filial  love  seemed  to  absorb 
the  first  years  of  His  existence,  and  this  all  the  more 
completely  as  it  was  more  concentrated  and  retiring. 
The  few  words  of  the  Gospel^  scarcely  give  us 
an  idea  of  what  characterised  the  first  period  of  the 
loving  life  of  the  Saviour;  but  they  are  sufficient, 
because  we  know  the  heart  whose  movements  they 
interpret.  So  we  are  not  surprised  at  the  relative 
discretion  with  which  the  Gospel  narrative  intro- 
duces Mary,  during  the  preaching  of  her  Son  and 
during  the  hours  of  His  Passion.  Why  dwell  on 
that  which  we  already  understand  ?  Nothing  was 
more  perfect  in  the  soul  of  the  Master  than  the 
faculty  to  love,  and  this  love  could  have  no  object 
.superior  to  Mary:   she  was  then  loved   as   never 

1  John   Clirys.,  Homilia   62   in  MaWi:    "Earn    (inatrem 

suam^  semper  quaerit  et  omnibus  anteponit malletque 

illam  iucultam  videre  quam  reginam  mirifice  amictam." 

2  lyouis  Veuillot  (passim)  speaking  of  his  fiancee, 

3  Luke,  11,  42-51. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  47 

creature  was,  or  could  be  loved, ^  witli  this  special 
characteristic  that  she  had  for  her  Son  the  All- 
Powerful,  that  is  to  say,  Him  who  enlists  all  things 
in  the  service  of  His  love. 

The  most  loving  of  sons  may  desire,  but  never 
realise,  the  perfection  of  his  mother.  He  finds 
her  made  to  the  pleasure  of  the  divine  will,  and 
not  to  his  own!  Accordingly,  his  efforts  to  trans- 
form her  delude  but  his  eyes,  if  even  they  deceive 
these  sufficiently  for  their  satisfaction.  One  son 
alone  could  make  to  His  liking  the  mother  of 
whom  He  would  be  born, — could  perfect  her  with- 
out ceasing,  in  order  to  love  her  always  more,  — 
without  fear  of  any  term  to  the  generosity  and  joy 
of  His  affection.  This  son  is  Jesus,  the  Word 
Incarnate,  the  God  who  had  taken  delight  in 
Mary,  long  before  He  called  her  to  life  upon  earth. ^ 
The  foreknowledge  alone  of  the  part  she  should 
have  in  the  Incarnation  bound  her  intimately  to 
Him,  and  to  guard  Himself  in  His  humanity 
from  the  taint  of  sin.  He  purified  her  beforehand 
from  the  original  stain,  and  clothed  her  with 
immaculate  purity.  "Thou  art  all  fair,  my 
beloved,  and  there  is  not  a  stain  in  thee,"^  He 
said  of  her  by  the  mouth  of  the  prophet:   "Even 

1  "Super  omnem  pulchritudinem  dilecta  es  a  Domino." 
(^Offic.  AssumptioniSy  first  responsary  of  the  second  noc- 
turne) . 

2  S.  Bernard.,  /«  .  Nativ.  B.  V.;  —  S.  German.,  I71 
Praese?it.  Deiparae;  S.  Job.  Damascen.,  Orat.  %  de  Dormi- 
Hone  B.  Mariae,  et  De  fide  orthodoxa^  etc. 

3  Cantic,  IV,  7. 


48  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

the  shadow  of  sin  shall  be  unable  to  touch  thee, 
and  thou  art  the  mirror  of  my  own  splendour.''''  ^ 

All  that  it  is  possible  to  give  to  a  creature  had 
been  given  by  Him  to  her  who  was  predestined;^ 
and  the  exterior  beauty  with  which  He  had 
clothed  her^  was  the  reflex  of  that  interior  loveliness, 
whence  proceeds,  according  to  the  Psalmist,  "the 
true  glory  of  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  Kings."  ^ 
Our  intelligence,  our  energy,  our  tenderness,  are 
the  participation  and  the  reflection  of  the  divine 
life;  admirable  no  doubt,  but  whose  development 
but  effects  a  more  exact  knowledge  of  the  abyss 
between  us  and  the  Creator.  More  noble  than  we, 
the  angel  is  nevertheless  still  far  removed  from  the 
perfect  resemblance  of  his  divine  Author.  To 
attain  it  we  must  rise  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  both 
man  and  God:  and  very  near  to  Him,  —  "on  the 
confines  of  the  Divinity" — according  to  Suarez^ — 
we  encounter  Mary,  the  most  perfect  of  creatures, 
by  the  gifts  of  nature  and  grace,  the  Master-piece 
of  the  hands  of  the  Omnipotent.^ 

1  "Speculum  justitiae."     {Lit.  Virgin.  Mar iae.') 

2  "In  Maria  debuit  apparere  omne  quod  fuit  perfectio- 
nis."  —  Cf.  Summ.,  pars  3.,  q.  XXVII,  art.  5. 

3  All  tradition  is  agreed  regarding  the  physical  beauty  of 
the  Most  Holy  Virgin.— Cf.  Nicephorus,  lib.  II,  c.  XXIII,  etc. 

4  Psalm  XIvIV,  14  :  "All  the  glory  of  the  King's  daughter 
isfrofn  within. ^^ 

5  Suarez.  (In  Thomam  2.  2.,  q.  CIII,  4  ad  2.):  "Quae 
(Maria)  sola  ad  fines  deitatis  ....  attigit."  —  Propinquissima 
auctori  gratiae."  {Smnm.  theol.  pars  3.  q.  XXVII,  5,  ad 
2.)  —  "Nisi  ipsa  esset  Deus,  non  potest  major  gratia  intel- 
ligi."     (B.  Albert.  Magn.  Supra  evangel..  Missus.) 

6  "Aeterni   cousilii   opus."    (S.    Augustin.)  —  "Initium 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  49 

How  then  has  He  not  loved  her  with  a  love 
unparalleled,  and  especially,  after  He  had  enclosed 
Himself  in  her  bosom,  as  in  a  tabernacle  precious 
as  the  ark  of  the  ancient  law?  ^  In  loving  her,  He 
loved  the  being  that  resembled  Him  most  in  spirit, 
even  before  becoming  identical  in  the  flesh:  ^  if  He 
has  not  spoken  of  her  more  fully,  it  is  by  a  reserve 
of  sublime  jealousy,  guarding  His  treasure  for 
Himself,  as  though  the  notice  of  others  would 
diminish  its  perfection.  However  He  must  needs 
speak  of  her,  and  He  does  speak  :  let  us  listen  and 
try  to  understand. 

Nothing  is  at  once  so  precise  and  so  gracious 
as  the  formula  which  Saint  lyuke  uses  to  introduce 
Mary  in  his  narrative.  —  "The  Angel  Gabriel  was 
sent  from  God  into  a  city  of  Galilee  called  Naza- 
reth to  a  virgin  espoused  to  a  man  Avhose  name 
was  Joseph,  of  the  house  of  David  ;  and  the  name 
of  the  Virgin  was  Mary."  ^ 

Embowered  in  green,  on  the  slope  of  a  high 
hill  which  protects  it  from  the  north  winds,  Naza- 
reth is  a  delightful  abode,  well  worthy  of  its 
Hebrew  name  which  signifies  "the  flovv^er."  ^ — "It 

operum  Dei."  (S.  Ambros.)  —  "Negotium  omuium  saeculo- 
ruui.  .  .  .  Iviiraculorum  abyssuni. "  (S.  Joh.  Damascen.) 

^  **Domum  atque  tabernaculum  Christi."  (S.  Augustiu. 
De  assumptione.)  —  Cf.  Sunim.  theoL,  pars  3.,  q.  XXVII,  2. 

2  "Maria  propinquissima  Christo  fuit  secundum  huma- 
nitatem."     (Suimn.  theoL,  pars  3.,  q.  XXVII,  5,  ad  1.) 

^  lyuke  I,  26-27:  "Missus  est  angelus  Gabriel  a  Deo  in 
civitatemGalilaeae,  cui  nomen  Nazareth,  ad  Virginemdespon- 
satam  viro,  cui  nomen  erat  Joseph  de  domo  David,  et  nomen 
virginis,  Maria." 

^    In  Arabic :  En  Nacira. 


50  1"he;  friendships  of  jksus. 

is  a  rose:"  says  Oiiaresmius,  '4t  has  a  round  form 
and  is  encompassed  by  mountains  as  the  flower  is 
by  its  leaves."  ^  Neither  the  beauty  of  its  posi- 
tion, nor  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  nor  the  grace  of 
its  daughters,  ^  had  up  to  that  time  raised  it  from 
obscurity:  its  name  does  not  figure  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  all  that  the  Jews  knevv^  of  it  was 
that  "it  is  but  a  Galilean  city  tvhicli  has  never 
produced  a  prophet,^^^  and  that  "it  could  not 
pretend  to  esteem  in  Israel.''^  "^  Why?  No  one 
knows,  and  the  Rabbis,  ordinarily  so  loquacious, 
are  absolutely  silent  on  this  point.  It  matters 
little  however;  God  reserved  for  it  so  much  glory 
in  the  future,  that  it  could  not  regret  the  contempt 
of  the  past. 

At  the  time  when  the  first  of  the  Herods  was 
closing  his  reign  in  sadness  and  fear,  the  flower  of 
Galilee,  opening  its  calyx  to  celestial  influences, 
received  therein  the  dew  foretold  by  Isaias,  when, 
his  prophetic  vision  fixed  on  the  clouds  which  hid 
the  Redeemer,  he  prayed  for  the  dropping  of  their 
mysterious  waters.^  Before  Bethlehem,  Nazareth 
merited  that  it  should  be  said  of  her:  "Oh  no, 
thou  art  not  the  least  of  the  cities  of  Juda,  for  out 
of  thee  shall  one  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be 

i     Quaresmius,  Elucidatio  Terrae  Sanctae. 

2  Antoninus  the  Martyr,  Itinerarium,  c.  V. 

3  John,  VII,  52 :  **Ont  of  Galilee  a  prophet  riseth  not." 

•*  Id.  I,  46:  "Can  anything  of  good  come  from  Naza- 
reth?" 

5  Isai.,  XIvV,  8:  "Drop  down  dew,  ye  heavens,  from 
above,  and  let  the  clouds  rain  the  just." 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  5 1 

ruler  in  Israel."  ^  But  it  ignored  still  the  gift  of 
God,  and  regarded  with  indifference  the  Virgin 
who  was  to  bring  forth  Emmanuel. 

By  her  father,  Joachim  or  Eliakim,  she 
belonged  to  the  race  of  David  ; '-'  by  her  mother, 
Hannah,  she  was  allied  to  the  family  of  Aaron, ^  so 
that  she  represented  the  two  most  illustrious 
families  of  her  people  and  of  the  entire  world. 
God,  who  does  all  things  well,  had  thus  ordained 
that  she  should  be,  even  in  the  eyes  of  men,  the 
worthy  mother  of  the  immortal  King  of  all  ages,'^ 
and  of  the  eternal  Priest.^  A  tradition  worthy 
of  respect,  represents  her  as  miraculously  born, 
since  her  parents,  advanced  in  years,  could  no 
longer  hope  for  issue.  Conceived  and  brought 
into  the  world  under  the  shadow  of  the  Temple, 
according  to  this  tradition,*^  she  had  not  hesitated 
to  retire  there  during  the  whole  period  of  her 
childhood  and  youth,   even  to  the  hour  when,  in 

^  Mich.,  V,  2:  "Nequaquam  ruiuima  es  in  principibus 
Juda:  ex  te  enim  exiet  dux  qui  legat  populum  meum  Israel." 

2  S.  mievon.y  Epist.  suppos.,  2,  or  rather,  Evangile  de  VEn- 
fance. — Cf.  Luke  III,  23.  Joachim,  it  seems,  usually  lived  in 
Nazareth. 

2  This  is  the  universal  opinion  of  the  Fathers,  those  of 
the  East,  particularly.  Cf.  Tischendorf,  De  Evangel,  apocr. 
origine  et  usu,  p.  167;  John  of  Eubens  Patrol,  grecque,  t. 
CXXI,  col.  1476,  et  Christoph  de  Castro  De  Virgine  Maria. 
— (Hannah  was,  it  is  said,  from  Bethlehem.) 

^     I  Tim.  17:   "Regi  saeculorum  immortali." 

'"    Psalm  CIX,  4:  "A  priest  for  ever." 

^  "In  domo  probaticae," — says  S.  John  Damascene, — 
where  now  stands  the  church  of  St.  Anne  at  Jerusalem.  Cf. 
Tischendorf,  De  Evangel,  apocr.  origine  et  usu,  p.  208;  Pere 
Cre,  La  Terre  Sainte,  July  1892.  —  vS.  Brigitt.,  Revel.,  lib.  VI. 


52  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

obedience  to  tlie  law  of  Moses,  slie  was  obliged  to 
enter  the  matrimonial  state.  She  was  not  alone 
in  this  sacred  retreat,  for  we  know  that  a  number 
of  virgins  lived  there  with  her,  in  consequence  of 
a  consecration  in  which  ordinarily  the  will  of  their 
parents  had  had  the  principal  part ;  ^  but  she  had 
come  there  herself,  of  her  own  will,  at  a  very  early 
age,^  in  obedience  to  an  inspiration  hitherto  un- 
known in  the  lives  of  the  daughters  of  Israel. 

In  announcing  that  the  Messiah  should  be  born 
of  a  Jewess,^  the  prophets  authorised  in  all  the 
women  of  the  chosen  people,  the  ambition  to 
be  his  mother.  None  of  them  would  have  con- 
sented to  forego  this  hope,  and  this  is  why  the 
daughter  of  Jephtha  wept,  on  the  mountains,  her 
imposed  virginity;^  why  also  the  mourning  spouse 
of  Elcana  came  to  deplore  at  the  feet  of  Heli,  the 
reproach  of  her  sterility.^  There  was,  in  fact,  as 
it  were,  a  curse  upon  the  bosom  from  which  sal- 
vation could  not  issue:  happy  then  the  mothers 
whom  God  had  rendered  fruitful,  since  they  were 
permitted  to  hope  for  the  heavenly  maternity! 
Certainly,  they  had  of  it  rather  an  instinct  than 
an  exact  notion,  but  therein  they  perceived  so 
much  glory  and  happiness  that  they  may  be  par- 
doned the  absence  of  accurate  knowledge. 

1  Cf.  II  Macch.,  Ill,  19. 

2  S.  Hieron.,  Epist.  suppos.,  I,  7. 

3  Genes.,  XII,  3;  — XXII,  18;— XXVIII,  14;— XLIX,  10. 
—  Cf .  Psalms  and  Prophets,  passim. 

^  Judic.  XI,  38:  "Flebat  virginitatem  suam  in  mon- 
tibus." 

^    I.  Reg.,  I,  10  et  seqq. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  53 

Mary's  vision  penetrated  further  and  higher. 
To  the  honour  dreamed  of  by  her  sisters,  she 
preferred  a  total  surrender  of  herself,  a  renuncia- 
tion even  of  the  most  sublime  privileges,  for  the 
love  of  God  alone,  and  of  her  Saviour,  should  she 
meet  Him  here  below.  Far  from  being  ambitious 
to  become  the  Mother  of  the  Messiah,  she  limited 
her  desires  to  the  service  of  her  who  should  have  that 
honour,  or  rather,  she  always  desired  to  be  a  docile 
and  disinterested  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the 
Almighty.^  And  in  order  to  be  perfectly  free  to 
accomplish  this  design,  she  had  made  a  vow  of 
perpetual  virginity,^  thus  raising,  as  she  believed, 
an  insurmountable  barrier  between  herself  and  all 
maternity  —  that  which  should  give  the  Son  of 
God  to  earth,  as  well  as  that  whence  proceed  the 
children  of  men. 

O  touching  and  sublime  error!  The  other 
dausfhters  of  Sion  God  has  disdained.  She  who 
had  "wounded  the  heart  of  the  Master  by  one  only 
of  her  hairs,"  as  she  had  "wounded  it  by  one  of 
her  eyes,"  was  Mary  —  the  all-beautiful,  the 
well-beloved,  whose  happiness  the  queens  of  the 
earth  should  proclaim.^    iVs  the  lily  among  thorns, 

^  S.  lyiguori,  Instruction  sur  la  Presentation, — Cf.  S.  Bri- 
gitt.,  Revelat.,  lib.  VI. 

2  S.  Hieroii.,  loc.  cit.y  8.  —  S.  Joh.  Damasc,  De  fide 
orthodoxa,  IV.  15. — Petau,  lib.  XIV,  de  Incarnatione,  c.  IV. 

^  Cautic,  IV,  7  etseqq.:  "Tota  pulchra  es,  arnica  mea, 
et  macula  non  est  iu  te  .  .  .  Vulnerasti  cor  meum  in  uno  ocu- 
lorum  tuoruin,  in  uno  criue  colli  tui  ..."  —  C.  VI,  8:  "Vide- 
runt  earn  filiae  et  beatissimam  praedicaverunt,  et  reginae  lau- 
daverunt  earn." 


54  ^HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

SO  was  she  among  women/  to  the  eyes  of  Him 
who  *'had  loved  and  sought  her  since  her  youth  to 
make  her  His  spouse. '  '^  But  He  would  still  respect 
the  sleep  which  wrapt  the  elected  soul :  around 
her  He  breathed  a  silence,  waiting,  so  to  speak, 
till  she  awoke  spontaneously.^ 

It  was  thus  that  she  had  accepted  the  suit  of 
one  of  her  kinsmen,^  Joseph  son  of  Jacob,  a  just 
man  before  the  Lord,  and  had  followed  him  from 
Jerusalem  to  Nazareth,  where  she  awaited  the 
solemn  celebration  of  her  marriage.  For  the  custom 
of  the  Bast  was  then  as  in  our  own  day,  to  defer  the 
giving  away  of  the  bride-elect  to  her  husband  for 
a  considerable  time,  six  months  or  even  a  year,''  in 
accordance  with  formalities  which  those  interested, 
or  their  parents,  wished  to  observe.^  The  marriage 
was  not  less  ratified,  indissoluble,  and  the  bride 
would  be  guilty  of  a  crime  if  she  had  violated  her 
sworn  fidelity,  — the  right  of  the  husband  was  full 

^  Cautic,  II,  2:  "Sicut  liliuiu  inter  spinas,  sic  arnica 
rnea  inter  filias." 

^  Sap.,  VIII,  2:  "Hanc  atnavi  et  exquisivi  a  juventute 
mea,  et  quaesivi  sponsam  mihi  assumere." 

"'  Cantic,  II,  7:  "Adjuro  vos,  filiae  Jerusalem,  .  .  .  .  ue 
suscitetis,  neque  evigilare  faciatis  dilectam,  quoadusque  ipsa 
velit." 

*  The  brother  of  her  father,  according  to  some  authors, 
whose  opinion  seems  worthy  of  acceptance.  (Y.  Fouard, 
Vie  de  N.'S.  J.-C.  t.  I.,  p.  52,  note  3.)  Cf.  Acta  Sanctor., 
XIXmartii;andPatrizzi,  de  Evangeliis,  lib.  Ill,  dissert.  IX. 

^  Kiddouschim,  I,  1. — According  to  Mischna  (Ketou- 
both,  5,  2)  the  bride  should  have  sufficient  time  to  prepare 
her  trousseau. 

^  Cf.  Moses  and  Aaron,  lib.  VI.  —  Conrad  Ikeuius,  Ant> 
Hebr.i  III.,  c.  I. — Apparatus  bibticuSy  cit.  Maimonides. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  55 

and  entire  after  the  first  agreement.^  In  the  inter- 
val, the  young  woman  lived  with  her  people  or  in 
her  own  dwelling,  if  the  death  of  her  natural 
guardians  had  made  her  heiress  of  their  goods  and 
mistress  of  her  own  person. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  Mary,  as  far  as  we 
can  judge  by  the  silence  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
tradition  relating  to  Joachim  and  Hannah,  v/ho 
without  doubt  were  already  dead  at  the  time  of 
their  daughter's  marriage.  Perhaps  she  had  even 
accepted  the  offer  of  Joseph  to  secure  a  protec- 
tor, after  the  loss  of  her  father  and  mother,^  with- 
out hastening  to  renounce,  however,  the  liberty 
which  custom  left  her  for  the  moment.  Did  she 
live  alone  or  with  some  relation?  We  cannot 
reply;  we  know  only  that  she  lived  in  her  own 
dwelling  and  not  in  the  house  of  another. 

Joachim,  without  being  rich,  possessed  some 
property,  —  a  house  in  Jerusalem,  on  the  southern 
slope  of  Bezetha,  and  another  at  Nazareth,  with 
fields  and  flocks.^  What  portion  of  these  posses- 
sions remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Virgin?  It  is 
difficult  to  say;  but  tradition  has  constantly  con- 
sidered as  belonging  to  the  daughter  of  Joachim, 
the  house  to  Vvdiich  Joseph  had  taken  her,  after  she 
left  the  Temple.  It  was  there  that  the  angel  sent 
by  God  should  meet  her. 

The  Gospel  shall  give  us  the  sequel :  '  'And  the  An- 

^     Apparatus  biblicus,  t.  Ill,  disputat.  2.,  art.  4. 

2  s.  Hieron.,  Epist.  supp.,  18,  1.  8. — Eiber  I  ComrfZcnt 
in  Matth. 

3  S.  Hieron.,  loc.  cit,^  3 — 4. 


56  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

gel  being  come  in,  said  to  her:  ^Hail,  full  of  grace,  the 
Lord  is  with  thee:  Blessed  art  thou  among  women.' 
And  when  she  had  heard,  she  was  troubled  at  his 
saying,  and  thought  with  herself  what  manner  of 
salutation  this  should  be.  And  the  Angel  said  to 
her:  'Fear  not,  Mary;  for  thou  hast  found  grace 
with  God  :  Behold,  thou  shalt  conceive  in  thy 
womb,  and  shalt  bring  forth  a  Son,  and  thou  shalt 
call  His  name  Jesus.  He  shall  be  great,  and  shall 
be  called  the  Son  of  the  Most  High  ;  and  the  I<ord 
God  shall  give  unto  Him  the  throne  of  David  His 
father:  and  He  shall  reign  in  the  House  of  David 
for  ever.  And  of  His  kingdom  there  shall  be  no 
end.'  And  Mary  said  to  the  Angel:  'How  shall 
this  be  done,  because  I  know  not  man?'  And  the 
Angel  answering,  said  to  her:  'The  Holy  Ghost 
shall  come  upon  thee;  and  the  power  of  the  Most 
High  shall  overshadow  thee.  And  therefore  also 
the  Holy  which  shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be 
called  the  Son  of  God.  And  behold  thy  cousin 
Elizabeth,  she  also  hath  conceived  a  son  in  her  old 
age:  and  this  is  the  sixth  month  with  her  that  is 
called  barren:  because  no  word  shall  be  impossible 
with  God.'  And  Mary  said:  'Behold  the  hand- 
maid of  the  Lord :  be  it  done  to  me  according  to 
thy  word.'     And  the  Angel  departed  from  lier."^ 

Eternal  wisdom  has  confided  the  task  of  narrat- 
ing these  things  to  the  Evangelist  whose  style  was 
most  elegant  and  most  accurate, — Saint  Luke,  the 
scholar,  the  man  of  letters,  the  artist,  who  used,  as 
a  master,  the  sweet  and  subtle  language  of  the 

1     Ivuke  I,  28—38. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  57 

Greeks/  the  most  harmonious  and  powerful  tliat 
men  have  ever  spoken.  One  feels  inclined  to  say 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  feared  to  seek  a  suitable 
interpreter  among  those  accustomed  to  the  rude 
Aramean  dialect,  who  had  never  thoroughly 
mastered  the  language  of  Greek  and  Roman 
civilization.  Since  it  was  necessary  to  celebrate 
the  nuptials  of  heaven  and  earth  in  human  speech, 
was  it  not  fitting  to  choose  that  which  seemed  the 
most  perfect  ? 

A  comparison  arises  here  quite  naturally  in  the 
mind.  The  blessed  Angelico  da  Fiesole  has  repro- 
duced the  scene  described  by  Saint  Luke:  in  one, 
as  in  the  other,  the  same  sobriety  of  treatment,  the 
same  chaste  model,  the  same  ethereal  colouring, 
with  a  feeling  that  penetrates  like  a  ray  or  a  per- 
fume. The  knees  instinctively  bend  in  presence 
of  the  Angel  who  inclines  towards  her,  grace  flov/s 
from  the  heart  of  the  Virgin  through  the  hands 
folded  on  her  breast,  and  the  divine  shadow  which 
surrounds  her,  envelopes  also  the  souls  of  those  who 
look  upon  the  scene.  The  Evangelist  and  the  Friar- 
Preacher  had  had  the  same  vision  and  had  trans- 
lated it  into  the  same  language ;  but  both  speak 
what  the  Word,  the  Son  of  Mary,  had  put  into 
their  souls,  narrating  in  suppressed  tones,  as  it 
were,  the  mystery  of  His  Incarnation. 

If  the  charm  of  this  narrative  could  be  surpassed, 
it  would  be  by  that  of  the  Nativity,  where  it  seems 

1  V.  Filliou  (Preface  de  I'Evaugile  de  Saint  Ivuc),  citatit 
S.  Jerome  {Comiyientin  Isaiam,  etc.j  — -  Cf.  Chateaubriand 
{(Genie  du  Christianisme),  —  Renan  {les  Evangiles),  etc. 


58  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

that  the  figure  of  the  divine  Infant  should  stand 
forth  in  a  stronger  light,  but  where  the  sweet  coun- 
tenance of  Mary  is  the  first  to  arrest  attention. 

The  Emperor  Augustus  having  ordered  a  census 
of  his  subjects  in  Asia,  and  each  one  of  these  hav- 
ing to  present  himself  for  enrollment  in  the  place 
of  his  birth,  —  "Joseph  also  went  up  from  Galilee 
out  of  the  city  of  Nazareth  into  Judea,  to  the  city 
of  David,  which  is  called  Bethlehem  ;  because  he 
was  of  the  house  and  family  of  David,  to  be  enrolled 
with  Mary  his  espoused  wife,  who  v/as  with  child. 
And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  they  were  there, 
her  days  were  accomplished,  that  she  should  be 
delivered.  And  she  brought  forth  her  first-born 
Son,  and  wrapped  Him  up  in  swaddling  clothes, 
and  laid  Him  in  a  manger,  because  there  was  no 
room  for  them  in  the  inn."  ^ 

Would  one  not  say  that  the  Word  Incarnate  vol- 
untarily conceals  Himself  behind  His  mother,  to 
allow  us  to  see  her  alone,  occupied  with  the  cares 
of  her  virginal  maternity?  But  let  us  continue  to 
read  the  Gospel. 

The  Angels  came  to  arouse  the  sleeping  Shep- 
herds of  Beth-Saour,  to  the  chant  of  the  Gloria, 
and  urged  them  towards  the  town,  giving  them  for 
a  sign  of  recognition,  the  manger  where  the  Child 
slept,  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes.      "And  they 

1  Luke,  II,  4 — 7:  "Quia  non  erat  eis  locus  in  diversorio." 
— This  word  diversorium  which  we  translate  by  inn  (a  dwel- 
lifig-place  for  caravans  or  travellers)  has  given  rise  to  many 
singular  commeutaries,  by  which  the  old  Christmases  were 
inspired.  ^ 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  59 

came  with  liaste:  and  they  found  Mary  and  Joseph, 
and  the  Infant  lying  in  a  manger.  And  seeing 
they  understood  of  the  word  that  had  been  spoken 
to  them  concerning  this  child.  And  all  they  that 
heard  wondered;  and  at  those  things  that  were  told 
them  by  the  shepherds.  But  Mary  kept  all  these 
words,  pondering  them  in  her  heart. '^  ^ 

It  is  Jesus  who  is  announced,  it  is  Mary  whom 
the  shepherds  see  first.  ^  Every  soul  is  filled  with 
admiration  of  this  extraordinary  birth,  but  the 
heart  of  Mary  alone  retains  and  faithfully  renews 
its  impression.  ^  The  Gospel  takes  care  to  bring 
her  thus  into  the  foreground;  but  it  is  dictated  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  Himself,  that  is  to  say,  by  the 
spirit  of  Him,  whom  the  angels  announced  to  the 
shepherds  and  who  smiled,  in  Mary's  arms,  on  His 
first  adorers. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  and  justified  by  at- 
tentive study,  that  Saint  Luke  must  have  received 
from  Mary  the  outlines  of  his  narrative:  so  that  in 
listening  to  him  we  hear  the  Virgin  speak  of  her- 
self and  of  her  divine  Son.  ^  Can  we  not  conclude 
from  this  that  she  obeyed  a  most  natural  and  per- 
sonal impulse,  or  that  the  Evangelist,  under  the 
charm  of  her  presence,  has  put  her  forward  almost 
without  perceiving  it  ?  But  in  the  character  of 
Mary  nothing  justifies  us  in  admitting  these  im- 

1  Luke,  II,  16—20. 

2  Luke,  II,  16:    "And  they  found  Mary,  etc." 

^  Luke,  II,  19:  "iT/rtrj/  kept  all  these  words,  pondering 
them  i7i  her  heart.'" 

■*  V.  Filliou  {Preface  de  VEvangile  de  Saint  Luc)  citing 
Petrus  Cantor,  Grotius,  Wiseman,  Valroger,  Pitra,  etc. 


6o  THS  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

pulses:  on  the  contrary,  her  humility,  her  love  for 
her  Son,  her  respect  for  the  Divinity  of  which  she 
was  the  handmaiden,^  even  when  she  was  thus 
honoured,  her  desire  to  advance  the  glory  and  the 
kingdom  of  Jesus  in  every  soul,  constrained  her  to 
efface  herself,  to  leave  Him  all  the  glory  and  all 
the  splendour.  Nothing  then  in  her  authorises 
such  an  hypothesis:  she  told  things  as  they  were, 
and  if  her  part  in  these  events  has  been  so  enviable, 
she  states  it  simply  for  the  glory  of  the  Master  and 
not  for  that  of  the  servant.  So  it  is  impossible  to 
tax  Saint  Luke  with  the  delusion  according  to 
which  Mary  has  usurped  the  rank  in  which  we  see 
her.  Even  though  he  had  not  been  preserved  from 
it  by  divine  inspiration,  he  had  been  promptly 
warned  by  the  apostles  and  disciples,  if  not  by  Our 
Lady  herself,  to  whom  his  book  ought  to  have 
been  familiar  before  it  v/as  known  to  the  early 
Christians.  ^  To  God  then,  to  the  Incarnate  Word, 
to  Jesus  Christ  is  traced  the  responsibility  of  this 
trick  of  affection,  which  would  deceive  us  did  v/e 
not  at  once  discover  its  cause  in  the  love  of  the  Son 
for  His  mother.  He  wishes  that  we  shall  look  to 
her  in  order  to  see  Him,  that  we  shall  come  to 
Him  through  her,  that  the  protection  of  Mary  may 
be  the  pledge  of  the  mercy  of  the  Saviour. 

It  is  easy,  besides,  to  compare  the  account  of  the 
adoration  of  the  shepherds,  told  by  Saint  Luke,  ^ 
and  that  of  the  adoration  of  the  Magi,  which  we 

1  Luke,  I,  38 :  "the  handmaid  of  the  Lord." 

2  Cf.  Filliou,  loc.  ciL 

3  Luke,  II,  8—17. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  6l 

find  in  Saint  Matthew,^  Never  has  anyone  pre- 
tended to  see  in  the  first  Gospel  the  echo  of  Mary's 
words  :  Levi,  moreover,  had  submitted  too  pro- 
foundly to  the  ascendancy  of  the  Master,  to  place 
himself  in  submission  to  another,  however  amiable 
and  persuasive  we  may  suppose  him. 

But  there  is  in  the  two  narratives  a  striking  par- 
allel. Called  miraculously  like  the  Shepherds,  the 
Magi  arrive  at  the  place  ' '  where  the  Child  was !  "^  It 
was  He  who  had  been  announced  to  them,  it  was 
He  whom  they  sought,  it  was  He  whom  they  found. ^ 
But  in  both  cases  they  found  Him  "with  Mary  His 
mother,"  ^  and  it  was  in  the  arms  of  Mary,  as  on 
His  natural  throne,  that  He  received  their  adora- 
tions. ^ 

Was  it  then  necessary  to  mention  the  Virgin 
here  ?  It  was  self-evident  that  this  little  Infant 
could  not  be  far  from  His  mother.  And  neverthe- 
less the  Gospel,  which  says  nothing  needlessly, 
pauses  and  we  have  no  trouble  in  seeing  why, 
if  we  note  the  expressions  of  Saint  Matthew. 
"Going  into  the  house  they  found  the  Child  with 
Mary  His  mother. "  It  is  because  she  is  His  mother 
that  He  wishes  to  bring  her  into  prominence.  He 
is  happy  in  giving  her  this  name,  in  affixing  it  to 
her  by  the  mouth  of  the  Evangelist,  in  order  to 

1  Matth.,  II,  1—12. 

2  Matth.,  II,  9:  "Ubi  erat  puer:' 

3  Luke,  II,  12:  *'The  Infant  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes 
and  laid  in  a  manger." 

^    Matth.,  II,  11 :  "Cum  Maria  matre  ejus." 

^    Id.,  II,  11 :  "And  falling  down,  they  adored  him," 


62  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

impress  it  on  the  ear  and  mind  of  all  who  read  the 
inspired  story.  What  son  has  not  felt  its  sweet- 
ness ?  And  how  should  the  most  loving  of  sons  not 
have  meant  to  experience  it  ? 

The  same  thought  inspires  the  account  of  the 
Presentation,  where  one  remarks  immediately  the 
wish  to  bring  Mary  into  prominence,  although  her 
Son,  it  might  seem,  should  attract  all  eyes  and 
rivet  all  attention. 

The  divine  Infant  is  presented  according  to  the 
accustomed  rite,  with  the  two  turtle-doves  destined 
for  the  symbolic  ransom,^  and  the  priest,  who  has 
prayed  for  the  mother,^  has  withdravv^n — disdainful 
perhaps,  indifferent  certainly.  But  Simeon  came 
on  the  scene,  conducted  by  the  Spirit;  he  received 
Jesus  in  his  arms,  and  blessing  God,  he  said : 

''Now  thou  dost  dismiss  thy  servant,  O  Lord, 
according  to  thy  word,  in  peace:  Because  my  eyes 
have  seen  thy  salvation.  Which  thou  hast  pre- 
pared before  the  face  of  all  people.  A  light  to  the 
revelation  of  tlie  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  thy 
people  Israel."  ^ 

Joseph  and  Mary  listened  with  wonder  to  the 
words  of  the  old  man.  He  blessed  them,  and 
addressing  himself  to  the  Virgin-Mother  :  —  "This 
child,"  he  said  to  her,  "is  set  for  the  ruin,  and  for 
the  resurrection  of  many  in  Israel,  and  for  a  sign 
which  shall  be  contradicted :  And  thy  own  soul  a 

1  I,evit.,XII,8;  Luke  II,  24:  "Duos  pullos  columbarum." 

2  Levit.,  XII,  8;  *'Orabitque  pro  ea  sacerdos." 

3  Luke  II,  28— 33. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  63 

sword  shall  pierce,  that  out  of  many  hearts  thoughts 
may  be  revealed."  ^ 

One  sees  with  what  persistence  the  Inspirer  of 
the  Gospels  pursues  His  design,  in  giving  Mary, 
not  the  first  place,  which  belonged  to  her  Son,  but 
a  place  close  beside  Him,  permitting  them  to  be 
seen  together  at  a  single  glance.  Thus  does  love 
in  all  circumstances,  even  when  majesty  seems  to 
impose  reservations  upon  it,  against  which  it 
always  knows  how  to  provide.  In  the  admirable 
picture  of  Raphael,  La  Madonna  di  FolignOj  ^  Jesus 
is  a  Child,  but  the  majesty  of  the  divinity  is  so 
manifest  in  Him  as  to  nearly  mar  His  infantine 
grace.  The  movement  which  prompts  Him  to 
leave  the  arms  of  Mary  is  almost  awe-inspiring,  so 
much  does  one  realise  therein  the  Master  of  the 
world ;  and  the  hands  that  hold  Him  seem  afraid 
to  touch  Him.  However,  He  is  truly  hers;  the 
attention  with  which  she  surrounds  Him  —  an 
attention  full  of  faith,  of  supplication,  and  of  mys^ 
terious  sadness,  —  is  above  all  full  of  love.  He 
supports  Himself  on  the  arm  which  encircles  Him, 
with  a  most  loving  surrender  of  Himself,  and  we 
ask  ourselves  if  John  the  Baptist  indicates,  by  his 
finger  pointed  towards  the  mother  and  Child,  the 
Lamb  of  God  or  the  celestial  sheep  ^  who  gave 
Him  birth. 

1     Ivuke  II,  34—35. 

-     In  the  Vatican  Gallery. 

3  S.  Epiphan.  Oratio  de  Laudibus  S,  Mariae  Deiparae: 
*'0  saucta  Deipara,  ovis  iinnianilata^  quae  Verbum  ex  te 
incarnatum   Agnum   Christum  peperisti!" — 'Saint  Bernard, 


64  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

With  tliese  charming  pictures  the  Gospel  does 
not  hesitate  to  contrast  gloomy  images,  those  of 
proscription,  exile,  and  misery.  Herod,  trembling 
for  his  throne,  slaughtered  the  little  children  around 
Bethlehem,  and  Rachel  in  her  tomb,  recalled  the 
lamentations  foretold  by  the  prophet,  ^  Joseph, 
warned  by  an  angel,  rose  in  the  night,  and  reached 
the  land  of  Egypt  after  great  fatigue,  with  the 
Child  and  His  mother,  ^  where  at  least  they  might 
hope  to  live  in  peace.  Misery  succeeds  persecu- 
tion, bitter  days  of  which  we  have  no  reckoning, 
but  which  must  have  appeared  very  long  in  their 
painful  monotony. 

Let  us  not  forget  however  that  Divine  lyove, 
which  is  again  revealed  in  the  words  of  the  angel, 
"Take  the  Child  and  His  mother,"  made  the 
journey  and  participated  in  the  exile  of  which  He 
shortened  for  Mary  the  too  slow  hours,  whatever 
had  been  in  other  respects  the  rapidity  of  their 
course.  ^  Three  months  or  three  years,  what  does 
it  matter  in  such  a  case  ?  Mary  suffered  for  her 
Child,  more  than  we  can  say,  on  such  an  occasion; 
but  He  was  to  her  a  source  of  enjoyment  that  no 
words  can  express.     She  suffered  to  see  Him  thus 

Sermo  de  diwdecint  stellis:    "Tota  suavis  omnibus  offerens 
lac  et  lanam." 

1  Jerem.  XXXI,  15;— Matth.  II,  18. 

2  Matth.  II,  21 :  "Accepit  puerum  et  matrem  ejus." 

3  Authors  are  divided  as  regards  the  length  of  the  stay 
in  Egypt.  Fouard  holds  that  it  was  a  few  months;  Pere  Didon, 
a  year;  Sepp,  two  years;  the  Apocrypha  {Gospel  of  the  Infancy  y 
XXVI,  etc.)  three  years  ;  Saint  Bonaventure  goes  so  far  as  to 
assign  seven,  follov/ing  traditions  which  we  cannot  verify. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  65 

repulsed  and  abandoned;    but  in  this  abandonment 
He  belonged  to  her  all  the  more,  and  the  aversion 
of  which  He  was  the  object,  gave  Him  to  her  more 
absolutely.     At  Matarieh,  how  many  times  in  the 
shade  of  the  sycamores,  ^  or  the  silence  of  a  miser- 
able cabin,    were  caresses  exchanged  between  the 
m.other  and  Child,  of  which  the  Angels  were  jeal- 
ous witnesses  !  The  Apocryphal  Gospels  delight  in 
recitals  of  fantastic  poetry,  which  relate  how  every 
creature  was  eager  to  serve  the  divine  fugitive  and 
the  Virgin-Mother:  the  fawns  came  to  lie  at  their  feet, 
which  they  licked  lovingly,  while  the  palms  bent 
their  branches  to  offer  their  fruit,  over  the  brackish 
waters    that    had   become    transparent    and    sweet 
as  those  of  the  fountain  of  David  at  Bethlehem.^ 
These  inventions  are  not  wanting  in  charm  ;    but 
what  are  they  in  comparison  to  the  reality  ?    The 
marvel  of  this  exile,  which  was  incessantly  renewed 
and  which  filled  the  soul  of  Mary  with  a  wonder 
full  of  gratitude,  was  the  tenderness  of  which  she 
was  the  object  on  the  part  of  her  Creator,   now 
become  her  Child.     If  indeed  the  basilisk  and  the 
lion  allowed  themselves  to  be  trampled,  as  in  the 
Psalm,  *  her  thoughts  reverted  to  the  demon  whose 

1  There  is  shown  at  Matarieh,  a  tree  under  which  Mary 
rested,  with  the  divine  Child. 

2  The  Copts  venerate,  in  Old  Cairo,  the  house  of  Sitti- 
Mariam  (Madame-Mary.) 

3  Bvangile  de  1'  Eufance,  XXIV;  —Apocryphal  Gospel  of 
Saint  Matthew,  XVIII,  XIX,  XX,  XXVIII,  etc. 

4  Psalm,  XC,  13:  ''Super  aspidem  et  basiliscum  ambula- 
bis,  et  conculcabis  leouem  et  draconem." 


66  THK  IfRlKlTDSHIPS  Oi''  jKSUSo 

head  she  should  crush,  ^  iu  her  character  of  mother 
of  the  Redeemer  slumbering  in  her  arms.  If  the 
palms  bent  their  tops,  laden  with  fruit,  she 
said  to  herself  that  the  living  Bread,  principle 
of  life,  of  resurrection,  and  of  immortality,  ^  had 
been  placed  in  her  hands,  and  that  she  was,  with 
a  more  just  title  than  Joseph  of  ancient  Egypt,  the 
feeder  of  the  hungry.^  If  the  waters  gushed  or 
became  clear  as  she  willed,  she  saw  in  spirit  the 
mysterious  source  bursting  forth  whence  the  Sa- 
maritan should  drink,  never  to  thirst  again.  *  And 
He,  with  a  peaceful  smile,  repeated  to  her  that  she 
was  the  queen  of  all  creatures,  as  she  was  the 
sovereign  mistress  of  the  heart  of  Him  who  had 
created  them.  Where,  then,  was  the  thought  of 
Herod,  who  raged  down  there  in  terrified  Israel  ? 
Persecution,  exile,  misery,  all  disappeared  in  the 
sunny  vision  which  lighted  up  her  countenance 
and  her  soul.  Could  she  still  dream  of  earth,  when 
Heaven  was  compelled  to  envy  her  happiness  ? 

After  the  return  to  Palestine,  the  hidden  life  of 
Nazareth  was  a  continuation  of  that  at  Heliopolis. 
During  nearly  thirty  years,  the  Son  and  mother  lived 
in  a  retreat  whose  mystery  has  scandalised  many 
souls,  because  they  have  not  seen  the  reason^  of  it. 

^     Genes.,  Ill,  15:  "Ipsa  conteret  caput  tuum." 

2  John  VI,  48.  51:  "Kgo  sum  panis  vitae  .  .  .  Ego  sum 
panis  vivus,  etc." 

3  Genes.,  XLI,  55;  **Go  to  Joseph  etc." 

^    John,  IV,  15 :  "Da  mihi  hanc  aquam  ut  non  sitiam." 
5    The  Apocryphal    Gospels  have    tried   to   fill   up  this 
apparent  blank,  and  quite  recently  a  Muscovite  writer  has 
resumed  the  endeavour,   in  a  pretentious  Hidden  Life  of 
fesus  Christ, 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  d^J 

It  was  not  expedient  for  the  Messiah  to  reveal 
Himself  before  the  age  at  which  man  seems  to  at- 
tain the  fnlness  of  his  perfection.  ^  In  all  countries 
and  in  all  ages,  youth  is  not  the  time  for  manifesta- 
tions whose  end  is  the  transformation  of  a  people; 
it  is  the  time  of  study,  and  the  novitiate  which 
prepares,  with  science  and  power  the  iwesiige 
necessary  for  the  ascendancy  of  reformers.  But 
above  all  in  the  East,  where  youth  is  condemned 
to  silence  and  apparent  inaction,  the  Mahdi  require 
the  imposing  and  austere  bearing  which  age  alone 
can  give.  John  the  Baptist  came  out  of  the  desert, 
at  thirty  years,  to  preach, — as  David  abandoned  it 
at  thirty,  to  ascend  the  throne:^  it  was  a  con- 
secrated age,  so  to  speak,  and  the  levites  com- 
menced to  calculate  their  service  in  the  Temple 
from  the  end  of  their  thirtieth  year.^  Man,  in 
fact,  arrives  then  at  his  complete  development:  he 
is  in  the  middle  of  his  career,  between  a  past 
which  corresponds  to  his  preparation,  and  a  future, 
the  character  of  which  he  may  conjecture.  The 
Orientals  are  thus  right  in  not  hastening  the 
advent  of  their  prophets  and  their  messias:  Maho- 
met, like  a  keen  observer,  waited  till  after  he  had 
passed  his  thirtieth  year,  before  presenting  him- 
self as  the  envoy  of  Allah. 

There    is    then    nothing    astonishing    in    the 

^     Ephes.,  IV.  13:  "Unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure 

of  the  age  of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 

2    II.  Reg.,  V.  4:  "Filius  iriginta  annorum  erat,  etc." 
^     I.  Paral.,  XXIII.  3:  "Numerati  sunt  lycvitae  a  triginta 

annis,  etc." 


68  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

hidden  life  of  Jesus:  the  contrary  rather  should 
have  happened  to  surprise  us.  We  must  never 
forget,  in  studying  Our  lyord,  that  He  was  a  man, 
and  that  He  belonged  to  the  Jewish  people;  hence 
the  conclusion  that  He  was  obliged  to  conduct 
Himself  as  a  man  subject  to  the  laws  and  customs 
v/liich  governed  the  life  of  the  sons  of  Abraham.^ 
If  this  necessity  is  not  taken  into  account  we  run 
the  risk  of  not  realising  as  we  should,  the  words 
and  acts  of  the  divine  Master.  Even  the  prejudices 
of  His  time,  as  far  as  they  were  reasonable.  He 
respected  with  a  prudence  in  which  we  recognise 
at  once  the  soundness  of  His  judgment  and  the 
divinity  of  His  inspiration.  How  could  we  then 
reproach  the  wisdom  which  kept  Him  in  obscurity 
until  the  hour  most  convenient  for  His  appearance 
before  Israel  ? 

Mary,  doubtless,  hastened  by  her  prayers  the 
redemption  of  her  people,  and  in  consequence  the 
manifestation  of  the  Redeemer;  but  had  she  not 
good  reason  to  love  the  delay  by  which  she 
profited,  and  should  she  not  dread  the  hour  when 
her  Son  would  cease  to  belong  to  her  exclusively? 
Completely  abandoned  though  she  was  to  the 
guidance  of  the  Most  High,  she  was  still  a  mother 
and  should  have  felt  the  delays  incidental  to  the 
consummation  of  the  divine  plan,  very  short. 

However,    when    the   time   was   come,    Jesus 

1  Military  or  commercial  life  allowed  au  earlier  entrance 
into  external  occupation,  but  it  would  scarcely  occur  to  any- 
one to  associate  Jesus  Christ  with  either  of  these. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  69 

inaugurated  His  mission  by  tlie  miracle  of  Cana  — 
It  is,  in  the  life  of  Mary,  the  commencement,  we 
are  told,  of  a  new  phase;  not  only  because  it  forced 
her  to  leave  her  country  and  her  house,  but  above 
all  because  it  assigned  her  a  place  altogether 
different  in  relation  to  her  Son.  God  takes  hence- 
forth precedence  of  the  man,  and  the  servant  takes 
the  place  of  the  mother,  as  the  Scripture  tells  us 
clearly:  "Woman,  what  is  that  to  me  and  to 
thee?i" 

If  it  had  been  pleasing  to  the  sovereign  Master 
to  give  to  these  words  the  sense  which  is  applied 
to  them  sometimes,  we  should  but  have  had  to 
accept  them,  — without  understanding  them,  it  is 
true,  because  nothing  would  have  prepared  us  for 
them.  We  should  however  be  allowed  to  ask  how 
the  Holy  Virgin  exposed  herself  to  receive  such  a 
rebuke  after  all  the  lessons  that  the  eternal  Wis- 
dom had  given  her.  Could  her  intelligence  pos- 
sibly have  failed  her  in  this  instance,  or  could  the 
past  have  given  her  illusions  which  it  was  neces- 
sary to  dissipate  ?  Nothing  of  the  kind  can  be 
accepted,  frivolous  though  the  reflection  may  be. 

Moreover,  where  shall  we  find  the  lesson  thus 
defined  ?  And  since  we  must  reply  to  the  asser- 
tion that  transforms  the  Son  of  Mary  into  the 
censurer  of  His  mother,  let  us  go  back  a  little  to 
the  first  supposed  admonition,  which  is  coincident 
with  the  finding  of  Jesus  in  the  Temple. 

1  John,  II.  4:  "Quid  mihi  et  tibi  est,  mulier?"  Protes- 
tants and  Jansenlsts  enlarge  upon  these  words,  and  abuse  the 
testimony  of  Catholic  doctors,  whose  opinion  is  very  different 
to  theirs. 


70  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Certain  authors  detect,  in  a  scene  of  exquisite 
tenderness  a  painful  incident,  and  if  we  may  say 
so,  as  little  worthy  of  the  Son  as  it  would  be  pain- 
ful to  His  mother.  After  three  days  of  unavailing 
search  Mary  found  her  Child,  rushed  towards  Him, 
and  allowed  the  pent  up  emotion  which  filled  her 
heart  to  escape/ 

There  is  nothing  more  touching  in  human 
speech  than  this  maternal  cry:  "My  Son,  why 
hast  thou  done  so  to  us?  Behold,  thy  father  and 
I  have  sought  thee  sorrowing!"  ^ 

And  to  this  cry  which  depresses  the  soul,  a 
severe  word  would  reply,  under  pretext  of  recalling 
su|)ernatural  visions !  The  most  ordinary  son 
would  have  rushed  into  the  arms  of  his  mother, 
excusing  himself  for  having  caused  her  sorrow, 
and  would  Jesus  have  chosen  this  moment  to 
repudiate  the  familiarities  of  a  life  of  intimacy? 
His  answer  is  mysterious,  it  is  true,  and  Saint 
lyuke  says  justly  that  it  was  not  understood.^  But 
if  we  do  not  penetrate  its  divine  meaning  more 
than  Mary  and  Joseph,  we  cannot  however  be 
deceived  in  the  sentiment  which  it  interprets;  the 
more  so  that  the  Gospel  has  taken  care  to  place 
here  the  tints  best  suited  to  confirm  our  judgment. 
It  is  it,  in  fact,  that  recalls  the  maternal  character 

1  Maynard  {La  Sainte  Vierge)  lias  beautifully  described 
the  search  for  Jesus  by  His  most  holy  mother. 

2  Luke,  II.  48:  "Fili,  quid  fecisti  nobis  sic  ?  Ecce  pater 
tuus  et  ego  dolentes  quaerebamus  te !" 

^  Luke  II.  5(h  "And  they  understood  not  the  word  that 
he  spoke  unto  them." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JiCSUS.  7 1 

of    Mary,i    before    attributing    to    her   tbe    sweet 
appellation:  "My  Son,  why  hast  thou  done  so  to 
us?"     It  is  it  also  that  represents  her  to  us  as  pre- 
serving the  answer  of  Jesus  in  her  heart.'^^    It  is  it, 
in  fine,  that  closes  the  account  of  this  episode  by 
the  characteristic  phrase  where,  after  recalling  the 
submission  of  Jesus  to  His  mother,   it  introduces 
Him  as  growing  in  wisdom,  in  age,   and  in  grace 
before  God  and  man.^     Does  not  this  determine 
the  first  signification  of  the  word?  —  '* How  is  it 
that  you  sought  me?     Did  you  not  know  that  I 
must  be  about  the  things  that  are  my  Father's?"  * 
Do  these  words  require  a  commentary?     Let  us 
try  one.  —  "Mother  dearest,   how  is  it  that  you 
have  hesitated  about  the  place  where  you  should 
find  me,  and  have  not  come  here  at  once,  you  who 
moreover  know  so  well  where  my  heart  and  my 
vocation  draw  me?"  ^ 

1  Id.,  idid.,  48  :  "Et  di^rti  mater  ejus  ad  ilium  :  Fili  quid 
fecisti  nobis  sic?" 

2  Id.,  ibid.,  51 :  "Et  mater  ejus  conservabat  omnia  verba 
haec  in  corde  suo." 

3  Id.,  ibid.,  52 :  "Jesus  proficiebat  .  .  .  gratia  apud  Deum 
et  homines." 

4  Id.,  ibid.,  49:  ''Quid  est  quod  me  quaerebatis  ?  Nescie- 
batis  quia  in  his  quae  Patris  mei  sunt  oportet  me  esse?"  — 
The  words  spoken  to  Mary  on  this  occasion  have  been  justly 
compared  to  those  which  Jesus  addressed  to  Zacheus,  in  St. 
Luke  fXIX.  5).  —The  word  "oportet"  would  seem,  then,  to 
mean,  "I  am  pleased  ;  it  suits  me." 

5  Cf.  Ludolf,  (Vita  Christi).— Fillion  {Comment,  in  Luc. 
loc.  cit.)  cit.  the  Ven.  Bede;  etc.  The  Copts  {loc.  cit.)  trans- 
late the  Latin  words:  "In  his"  by  these:  "In  the  midst  of 
these  who  speak  of  my  Father,"  that  is  to  say,  the  rabbis  or 
doctors  of  the  law.— Others  translate  them :  "In  the  Temple, 
or  the  house  of  my  Father." 


72  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Who  is  there  that  does  not  realise  the  accent? 
Who  does  not  imagine  the  caress  in  tone  and 
gesture?  Hov/  much  more  divine  is  Jesus,  if  we 
are  allowed  the  expression,  in  this  filial  excuse, 
than  in  the  haughty  remonstrance  in  which  it  is  so 
difficult  to  recognise  Him.  After  having  con- 
sidered the  contradictory  explanations  which  are 
proposed,  is  it  not  better  to  keep  to  their  natural 
interpretation,  that  is  to  say,  to  those  which  best 
respond  to  the  love  of  the  Son  of  God  for  His 
mother?  It  subtracts  nothing  from  the  teaching 
contained  in  the  reply  of  the  Master,  Vv^hilst  respect- 
ing the  harmony  of  character  which  we  perceive 
in  Him.  Thus  several  distinguished  commen- 
tators of  the  first  order  have  believed,  and  we  can 
do  no  better  than  follow  their  opinion.^ 

After  what  has  gone  before,  we  can  now  judge 
the  value  of  the  repulses  which  Mary  must  have 
had  to  suffer,  at  the  marriage  of  Can  a,  and  after 
the  second  preaching  at  Capharnaum. 

At  Cana,-  the  sweet  supplication  which  had 
just  said:  "They  have  no  wine,"  received  in 
answer, — according  to  the  jealous  defenders  of  the 
prerogatives  of  the  Incarnate  Word,  —  the  severe 
admonition:  "Woman,  what  is  that  to  me  or  to 
thee?"  — The  whole  motive  is  to  believe  in  the 
humiliation  of  Mary,  even  in  this  title  of  respect: 
"Woman,"  or  "Madam"  ^  —  following  the  genius 

1  Cf.  Cornel,  a  Lapide,  cit.  the  Ven.  Bede.  —  Maynard, 
La  Sainte  Vierge,  etc. 

2  John,  II.  1—11. 

3  Cf.  Dion  Cassius,  Hist.,  II,  12.  —Aeschylus,  Agamem- 
non, etc. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  73 

of  the  oriental  languages,  of  which  they  have  no 
knowledge.  They  are  unaware  that  the  name  of 
"mother"  is  given  to  all  women  of  advanced 
years,  whatever  be  their  degree  or  relationship 
with  the  interlocutor,  and  that,  with  the  exception 
of  this  usage,  the  word  is  solemn  and  emphatic,^ 
that  is  to  say,  there  is  less  conventionality  in  the 
occasion  which  we  are  considering.  They  do  not 
remark  the  eagerness  of  the  Virgin  to  say  to  the 
servants,  sure  as  she  was  of  being  obeyed :  "Do  all 
He  tells  you."  Relying  on  the  opinion  of  Saint 
Augustine,^  and  on  that  of  Saint  Chrysostom,^ 
which  seems  to  us  a  little  strained,  they  see  above 
all  the  abyss  that  separates  the  Son  and  the 
mother:  "What  is  that  to  me  or  to  thee?" 

The  expression  is  not  rare  in  the  Scripture, 
and  far  from  implying  always,  as  some  contend, 
a  certain  displeasure,  it  interprets  often 
wonder  at  a  difference  of  views  or  a  dissent 
between  the  interlocutors.*  Once  only  is  it 
ironical  and  shov/s  the  intention  to  refuse  the 
request  made.^-  So  that  we  can  generally  inter- 
pret, "What  subject  of  complaint  is  there  between 
you  and    me?"     This  would  perfectly   meet  the 

i     Cf.  III.  Reg.,  II.  20.  — Jerem.,  XV.  10. 

2  Dejide  et  symbolOylX. 

3  Homil.  20  injoannem.  —  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  Fathers  had  principally  to  combat  the  Arians,  and  took, 
in  consequence,  great  care  to  distinguish  the  divine  character 
of  the  Son  of  Mary  ;  this  brought  them  to  the  interpretation 
which,  to  us,  seems  misapplied. 

4  Jud.,  XI.  12.— II.  Reg.,  XVII.  18.— II.  Paral.  XXXV.  21. 
«    IV.  Reg.,  III.  13.— Cf.  II.  Reg.,  XVI.  10. 


74  I'HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

actual  circumstance,  and  v/ould  be,  at  most,  a 
kind  word  destined  to  calm  tlie  anxiety  of  Mary. 
Several  reliable  authors  liave  tlius  understood  it, 
and  we  miglit  accept  tbeir  interpretation  if  we 
could  not  find  a  better.^  The  Orientals,  however, 
employ  this  expression  even  at  the  present  day, 
in  denoting  their  satisfaction  when  what  they  say 
is  at  once  imderstood.^  Is  not  this  the  interpreta- 
tion which  ^ve  should  accept,  above  all,  if  we  con- 
sider that  the  examples  used  in  the  Scripture 
suppose  a  certain  elevation  of  speech,  and  have 
not,  therefore,  for  us  the  same  meaning  as  those 
which  we  employ  in  familiar  language. 

A  third  incident  furnishes  material  for  com- 
ment,— that  of  the  Synagogue  of  Capharnaum,  the 
day  on  which  the  Pharisees  accused  Jesus  of 
working  miracles  in  the  name  of  Beelzebub.^  At 
the  moment  when  the  Master  was  effectually 
silencing  His  adversaries,  from  the  dense  and 
swelling  crowd  some  one  said  to  Him:  "Thy 
mother  and  thy  brethren  stand  without,  seeking 
thee."     Immediately    He    replied:    "Who    is   my 

^  Bernard,  a  Piconio,  CGniment.  in  Joann.y  loc.  cit.  — Le 
Camus,  Vie  de  N.-S.,  liv.  I.  cap,  II.  —  Duplessy,  Corresp, 
CathoL,  no.  17,  1895. 

2  Our  Kastern  missionaries  can  verify  it,  and  Mgr. 
Amanton,  of  happy  memory,  has  given  the  present  writer 
conclusive  examples.  In  his  discussions  with  a  schismatic 
Bishop,  he  heard  this  very  reply  to  advantageous  proposi- 
tions: "What  is  it  to  me  and  to  thee?"  The  delegate  of 
Ivlossoul  had  at  once  understood  the  wishes  of  his  inter- 
rogator. 

3  Matth.,  XII.  22-50. —Mark.  III.  21-35.  —  I, uke  VLLI. 
19-22. 


THE  FRiENDSHIPvS  OF  JESUS.  75 

mother,  and  who  are  my  brethren?  My  mother 
and  my  brethren  are  those  who  listen  to,  and  put 
in  practice,  the  word  of  God!"  From  which  some 
hastily  infer  another  rebuke  administered  to  Mar}^, 
who  seems  to  have  taken  the  initiative  in  the 
appeal  made  to  her  Son,  but  here  again  the  situa- 
tion is  not  realised,  nor  consequently  the  words  to 
be  interpreted. 

The  warning  given  to  Jesus  may  seem  at  first 
to  be  a  snare,  though  it  may  really  have  been 
caused  by  a  request  on  the  part  of  His  mother  and 
His  kinsmen,  alarmed  at  His  danger,  from  which 
they  wished  to  extricate  Him.  Not  being  able  to 
come  near  Him  on  account  of  the  crowd,  they 
passed  their  message  from  one  to  another,  till  it 
came  at  leuQ^th  to  His  ears,  but  at  the  same  time 
to  the  ears  of  the  mocking  Pharisees,  the  alarm^ed 
disciples,  and  the  auditors  placed  on  guard  around 
Him.  It  is  easy  to  reconstruct  the  scene,  and  it  is 
v/ortli  the  trouble  involved. 

The  Messiah  had  just  come  to  open  rupture 
with  the  Synagogue,  in  affirming  His  divine  mis- 
sion, —  His  inspiration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  —  His 
superiority  over  Jonas  and  Solomon,  that  is  to  say, 
over  the  seers  and  the  wonder-workers  who  were 
the  admiration  of  Israel, — the  coming  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  His  person  and  those  of  the  faithful 
who  rallied  round  Him.  He  made  it  in  terms  of 
superhuman  elevation  and  power,  which  created  a 
profound  division  in  the  crowd, — some  proclaiming 
Him  the  Son  of  David, — others  crying  He 
was  demented.     For  one  and  the  other  He  was  a 


'jS  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

ruler  who  claimed  authority,  perfectly  iudependent 
of  every  obstacle,  —  responsible  only  before  His 
Heavenly  Father,  whose  will  was  the  only  law  He 
intended  to  observe. ^  This  radiant  brow,  this 
vibrating  voice,  this  imperious  gesture,  are  of  one 
illumined,  but  not  of  those  whom  an  ordinary 
prophetic  or  sibylline  influence  inspires:  there  is 
nothing  there  to  be  mistaken;  He  believes  Him- 
self, and  calls  Himself,  the  Son  of  God. 

But,  at  the  same  instant,  those  who  remember 
so  well  Joseph  the  carpenter,  Mary,  the  brothers 
and  sisters  of  the  innovator,^  hear  the  words: 
*'Your  brethren  ask  for  you! — "  "What  a  co- 
incidence, and  is  it  not  He  who  procured  it  as  a 
means  of  retreat,  in  anticipation  of  a  revolt  against 
His  boldness?  For,  deluded  though  He  be.  He 
cannot  in  fact  be  deceived  on  the  impression 
produced,  on  the  risk  He  runs,  on  the  future 
finally  reserved  for  Him  in  this  society  whose 
traditions  and  customs  He  upsets.  Perhaps  He  is 
beginning  to  fear,  and  to  desire  discreetly  to  find 
an  honourable  escape,  after  the  triumph  by  which 
He  is  momentarily  elated.  A  sign  could  have 
warned  His  followers,  and  their  appeal  manifests 
a  cleverness  which  might  be  advantageously  un- 
masked." We  impute  to  them  nothing  improb- 
able, and  for  Him  who  knows  them,  the  likelihood 

1  Cf.  Matth.,  17-46.  — Mark,  III.  21-31. 

2  John,  VI.  42:  "rs  not  this  Jesus,  the  son  of  Joseph, 
whose  father  and  mother  we  know  ?"  —  Matth.  XIII.  55  :  "Is 
not  this  the  carpenter's  son  ?  Is  not  his  mother  called  Mary; 
and  his  brethren  James  and  Joseph,  and  Simon  and  Jude  ?" 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OI^  JESUS.  77 

here  borders  on  certainty.  Knowing  looks  passed 
between  them,  with  a  suppressed  smile  which 
could  not  escape  the  disciples  and  the  nearest  of 
His  hearers.  —  "My  mother  and  my  brethren! 
Who  is  my  mother  and  who  are  my  brethren,  if 
not  those  who  accept  and  practise  the  Word  of 
God?"  What  is  this  but  to  say?  —  "I  am  the 
Truth,  and  I  am  come  to  establish  on  earth  the 
reign  of  Truth.  Whoever  accepts  it  becomes  to 
me  as  a  brother,  since  he  lives  by  my  life;  who- 
ever propagates  it  becomes  to  me  as  a  mother, 
since  it  gives  me  life  in  souls.  I  have  no  other 
family,  and  do  not  wish  for  other  here  below  nor 
above."  ^ 

No  one  hesitated,  so  clear  was  the  idea.  By  a 
singular  agreement,  the  three  Evangelists  who 
recount  the  scene  close  it  abruptly  on  this  declara- 
tion, showing  thus  that  silence  ensued,  and  that 
the  assembly  dispersed  without  hearing  more. 
Then,  tranquil  and  smiling,  the  Master  left  the 
house,  and  sat  on  the  shore, ^  v/hile  a  cry  was 
raised  in  the  crowd:  "Blessed  is  the  womb  that 
bore  thee,  and  the  breasts  that  gave  thee  suck!"  ^ 

This  was  indeed  the  last  word,  if  one  may  say 
so,    and    the    unknown    woman'    who    thus    gave 

1  Cf.  S.  Hieron.,  In  Matth.,  XII.  15.— S.  Hilar.  Pict.,  In 
Evang.  expos.,  loc.  cit, — Euthym.,  hi  Evang.  expos.,  ibid. 

2  Matth.,  XIII. —  Cf.  Fouard,  Vie  de  iV.-5.  —  Frette, 
Notre  Seigjieur,  etc. 

^  Luke,  XI.  27:  ''Beatus  venter  qui  te  portavit  et  ubera 
quae  suxisti !" 

^  Tradition  attributes  these  words  to  Saint  Marcella,  the 
servant  of  Saint  Martha. 


78  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

testimony  to  Mary,  interpreted  exactly  tlie  tlionglit 
of  the  Lord. 

Shall  we  do  Him  the  injury  of  calling  into 
question  the  sentiment  which  dictated  on  Calvary 
the  words:  "Woman,  behold  thy  Son."^  We 
should  rather,  after  the  example  of  the  friends 
who  remained  faithful,  draw  near  the  cross  and 
unite  ourselves  to  the  divine  heart  which  gives  a 
last  token  of  its  l6ve  for  Mary.  Will  He  leave 
her  without  support  and  consolation?  It  is  not 
possible;  and  since  He  can  only  place  her  in  hands 
worthy  of  such  a  trust.  He  creates  for  her  a  second 
son  in  the  person  of  His  beloved  disciple. ^  But  to 
substitute  for  Himself  an  adopted  brother.  He 
seems  to  have  required  the  assent  of  Our  Lady, 
and  by  the  very  expression  He  employed^  in 
speaking  to  her.  He  attests  a  last  time  His  respect 
for  her  maternal  will.  One  would  say  a  request 
quite  as  much  as  a  decision.  He  wishes,  it  is 
true,  that  she  should  have  confidence  in  the  devo- 
tion of  the  apostle  :  but  He  begs  it  of  her  at  the 
same  time,  and  His  accent  is  quite  different  when 
He  gives  to  Saint  John  simply  the  injunction  to 
receive  Mary  for  his  mother.* 

Certainly,  the  will  of  Jesus  goes  further  than 
this  adoption  of  the  Evangelist:  the  entire  human 


1  John  XIX.  26:  "Mulier,  ecce  filius  tuus." 

2  "Matri    quam    relinquebat,"    says    Saint    Augustine, 
"alterum  pro  se  filium  providebat." 

3  John  XIX.  26:  ''Mother  Cthat  is,  woman)  behold  thy 
son." 

4  Id.,  ibid.,  37:  "Behold  thy  mother." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  79 

race  becomes  the  spiritual  family  of  the  Most  Holy 
Virgin,  towards  whom  each  one  of  us  thus  con- 
tracts obligations  of  love,  of  respect,  and  of 
resemblance.  But  in  this  respect  Jesus  still  mani- 
fests that  His  will  is  pleasing  to  Mary,  since  He 
realises  the  most  ardent  desires  of  the  co-redemp- 
tress  of  men,  in  placing  them  again  in  her  keeping 
as  so  many  sons,  partaking  of  the  rights  of  her 
First-born  to  grace  and  to  glory. 

Even  by  reason  of  His  filial  love,  the  Saviour 
had  not  been  able  to  save  His  mother  the  participa- 
tion of  His  sorrows.  The  hour  of  supreme  sadness 
reunites  around  Him  in  His  agony  the  most  dearly 
loved  of  His  companions;  among  those  privileged 
by  the  ordeal,  there  are  still  some  who  are  pre- 
ferred, for  whom  the  sweetness  of  past  intimacy 
reserves  a  part  in  the  dregs  of  the  chalice.  Could 
they  complain  of  this  preference  without  prejudice 
to  their  love?  We  do  not  disclose  our  v/ounds 
to  the  indifferent,  and  only  the  hand  of  a  friend 
can  touch  the  torn  fibres  of  our  heart.  In  the 
same  way,  we  make  those  only  the  participators  of 
our  struggles  and  dangers,  whose  life  we  have 
accepted  in  return  for  that  which  we  have  sur- 
rendered to  them.  Mary  would  have  had  a  right 
to  complain  if  Jesus  had  sent  her  away  from  Cal- 
vary; her  place  was  indeed  at  the  foot  of  the  gibbet 
—  standing,^  her  eyes  fixed  upon  the  Crucified  — 
suffering  and  praying  with  Him,  until  the  moment 
when  all  being  consummated  for  both,  they  could 

1     "Stabat  mater  dolorosa  juxta  crucem."     (Offic.  Com- 
passionis  B.  M.  Virg.)  —  Cf.  John  XIX.  25. 


8o  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

say  together  to  the  eternal  Father:  ''Into  Thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit!" 

To  the  tortures  of  the  agony  succeeded  the  jo3^s 
of  the  resurrection ;  then  came  the  separation, 
the  motive  of  which  cannot  escape  us.  When  He 
ascended  into  Heaven,  the  Son  of  God  left  His 
mother  to  the  apostles,  and  to  the  first  disciples  as 
a  part  of  Himself ;  He  remained  with  them  in  the 
woman  from  whom  He  had  taken  His  flesh  and 
His  blood;  in  seeing  and  hearing  her,  it  was  He 
whom  they  always  saw  and  heard.  She  was,  by 
force  of  circumstances,  the  corner-stone  of  the  new 
edifice,  that  is  to  say,  the  Church  inaugurated  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.^  She 
understood  all  this  better  than  anyone,  and 
resigned  herself  gently  to  await  the  final  reunion: 
but  it  is  easy  for  us  to  divine  that  from  earth  to 
heaven,  and  from  heaven  to  earth,  there  was  un- 
interrupted communication  of  desires  and  consola- 
tions, which  the  angels  and  the  blessed  envied, 
even  in  the  midst  of  their  felicity. ^ 

According  to  tradition  Mary  lived  twenty-one 
years  after  the  death  of  her  divine  Son,^  which  she 
passed  with  Saint  John,  first  at  Jerusalem — then  at 
Bethany,  where  the  friends  of  Jesus  attracted  her — 
finally  at  Ephesus,  where  she  found  refuge  during 
the   troubles   of    the    year    42,    and   blessed   the 

^  Petrus  Bles.,  Serm.  jj  in  Assttmpt.  B.  Mariae.  —  Cf." 
Barbier,  la  Samte  Vierge,  d'apres  les  Peres,     CLVI. 

2     Cf.  Barbier,  t>/>.  cit.  CIvVIII. 

^  Her  death  is  generally  supposed  to  have  taken  place 
in  the  year  58,  at  the  age  of  72  yeary. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  8 1 

beginnings  of  a  Church,  celebrated  for  all  time;^ 
after  which  she  came  back  to  dwell  in  Mount 
Sion,  to  wait  there  the  end  of  her  exile. ^  It  is 
true  that  death  gathered  her  as  a  ripe  fruit,  which 
detaches  itself  from  its  branch.  IvOve,  which 
caused  her  to  live,  was  the  sole  reason  of  her 
death  ;  ^  the  hour  was  come  for  her  to  rejoin  her 
Beloved,  and  the  perfumed  pillar  of  smoke  which 
came  out  of  the  wilderness  ^  was  lost  in  the  depths 
of  heaven. 

By  a  special  interposition  of  Providence,  the 
apostles  were  then  gathered  together  at  Jerusa- 
lem:^ as  on  the  eve  of  the  Resurrection,  one  only 
being  absent  —  the  same  Thomas,  for  whom  God 
seemed  to  reserve  the  favour  of  a  last  revelation. 

1  Her  stay  at  Epiiesus  is  sometimes  disputed,  but  with- 
out sufficient  reason,  in  our  opinion.  A  few  chronological 
difficulties  ought  not  to  prevail  in  this  case  against  the  an- 
cient belief  of  Smyrna  and  Ephesus.  It  seems  but  fitting  that 
the  Virgin  Mary  should  go  in  person,  to  destroy  the  un- 
reasonable and  voluptuous  reign  of  the  equivocal  divinity, 
Diana,  that  held  sway  on  the  entire  Asiatic  coast. 

2  There  is  no  solid  foundation  for  the  belief  that  Mary 
died  at  Ephesus  and  was  buried  there.  The  Revelations  of 
Catherine  Emmerich  are  not  sufficient,  indeed,  to  invalidate 
the  authority  of  tradition,  in  whatsoev,er  esteem  the  visions 
of  the  pious  Augustinian  of  Dulmen  are  held. 

2  S.  Bernard.,  The  Assumpt.,  Serm.  ^.  —  Contenson, 
Marialogia,  speculat.  2.  —  S.  Brigitt.  Revelat.,  lib.  VI. 
ch.  IvXII. 

^  Cant.  III.  6:  *'Who  is  she  that  goeth  up  by  the  desert, 
as  a  pillar  of  smoke  of  aromatical  spices,  of  myrrh  and 
frankincense?" 

^  S.  Dyonis.  Areop.,  De  diviiiis  7iominibus,  lib.  III.  — 
S.  Joann.  Damasc.  Orat.  II de  B.  Marine  Assurnptione. 


82  1'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

Under  the  presidency  of  Peter  they  paid  the  last 
tribute  of  respect  to  the  mother  of  God,  and  laid 
her  in  the  tomb  which  had  already  received  the 
mortal  remains  of  Anne  and  Joachim.^  The  East 
has  preserved  the  remembrance  of  the  marvels 
which  accompanied  this  translation  —  angelic 
chants,  the  healing  of  the  sick,  acclamations  of  an 
enthusiastic  people.^  The  crowd  hastened  from  all 
sides  to  venerate  the  holy  tomb,  whence  came 
forth  also  a  supernatural  virtue:^  the  blind  saw, 
the  lame  walked,  the  deaf  heard,  sinners,  touched 
and  repentant,  felt  themselves  pardoned.  But 
these  prodigies  were  nothing  in  comparison  to 
those  which  were  to  seal  the  union  of  the  Creator 
with  His  most  privileged  creature. 

The  Master  of  death  had  deigned  to  submit  to 
its  yoke,  the  better  to  show  His  power  over  it:  so 
He  had  allowed  Mary  to  descend  for  a  time  into 
the  shadow  of  the  tomb,  to  draw  her  therefrom 
with  greater  glory.  Three  days  after  the  entomb- 
ment Thomas  rejoined  his  brothers,  and  asked 
them  to  open  the  sepulchre  for  him,*  to  look,  for 
the  last  time  on  earth,   upon  the  features  of  her 

1  Cf.  S.  Brigitt.,  Revelat.y  lib.  V.  — The  relics  of  Saint 
Anne  were  transferred  later  to  the  church  which  bears  her 
name  at  Jerusalem. 

2  Cf.  S.  Dyonis. — S.  Damas. — Juvenal.  Hierol.  —  Andr. 
Cret.  —  Apocryph.,  De  transitu  Virginis,  etc. 

3  .Ivuke,  VI.  19.— VIII.  46. 

*  His  demand  was  not  unreasonable,  since  the  inter- 
vening time  before  the  definite  closing  of  the  tomb  had  not 
expired.  The  bolts  were  to  be  fastened  only  on  the  fourth 
day. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JKSUS.  83 

whom  they  had  loved  ahnost  as  the  Lord.  The 
stone  rolled  in  its  grooves,  and  as  at  Golgotha,  the 
fnneral  vault  contained  nothing  but  the  winding- 
sheet.  The  flowers  with  which  they  had  strewn 
the  tomb  had  not  had  time  to  fade,  and  perfumed 
the  air  around  them;  but  a  fragrance  still  sweeter 
indicated  the  way  traced  by  the  celestial  fugitive. 
Their  eyes  sought  instinctively  the  heights  of  the 
mountains  from  which  the  Man-God  had  taken 
His  flight,  and  still  nearer  they  saw  the  Virgin, 
borne  by  angel  hands  to  the  throne  of  her  Son.^ 
Then,  tradition  tells  us,  the  soul  of  Thomas  gave 
vent  to  a  cry  of  sorrow  and  supplication,  which 
was  answered  by  a  smile  of  ineffable  tenderness: 
at  the  same  time  Mary  detached  her  girdle  and  let 
it  fall  at  the  feet  of  the  apostle,  —  an  earnest,  no 
doubt,  of  the  bond  which  would  reunite  them 
more  closely  for  ever.  Then  all  was  lost  in  light, 
and  the  disciples  went  back  to  Jerusalem,  ponder- 
ing on  the  happiness  of  her  who  was  exalted 
higher  than  the  choirs  of  blessed  spirits, ^  even  to 
the  very  throne  where  the  majesty  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  seated. 2 

Could  they  conceive,  and  in  the  course  of  ages, 
could  anyone  tell  us  of  the  delights  and  splendours 

^  Abedjesu,  a  Syrian  author  (ap.  Assemani,  t.  Ill,  p.  I), 
who  resumes  the  oriental  narrative. — Tradition  points  out  the 
place  where  the  apostles  stood,  at  the  moment  of  this  vision, 
a  little  above  the  Garden  of  Gethsemani. 

2  "Exaltata  est  super  choros  angelorum  ad  coelestia 
regna."     (Offic.  A s sumption. B.  V.  M.) 

2    S.  Hieron.,  De  Assumptione  Virg.  Mariae. 


84  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

of  the  new  life  of  Mary?  Philosophy,  art,  elo- 
quence, poetry,  have  consecrated  themselves 
thereto,  aided  by  holiness,  before  which  the  eternal 
tabernacles  seem  to  open,  and  all  that  we  have 
heard  leaves  us  desirous  of  hearing  more,  without 
hope  of  ever  realising  our  dream.  The  glory  of 
the  daughter  of  the  King  is  an  abyss  accessible 
only  to  that  glance  of  Love  which  formed  her 
before  all  existence,^  and  delighted  in  her  the 
more  in  proportion  as  she  expanded  under  its 
caresses.  It  is  He  Himself  whom  He  loved  and 
elorified  in  her,  Himself  whom  He  loves  and 
glorifies  when  He  makes  her  the  centre  of  all 
glory  and  the  term  of  all  love.  What  words  would 
adequately  convey  all,  if  we  could  understand  their 
import  in  the  mouth  which  pronounces  them  :  the 
words  that  David  attributes  to  God  the  Father, 
and  which  Mary  had  the  right  to  repeat  on  earth, 
in  laying  her  new^-born  Infant  in  the  manger: 
''Thou  art  my  Son;  today  have  I  begotten  Thee."  ^ 


1  Eccl.,  XXIV.  5:  "I  came  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Most 
High,  the  first-born  before  all  creatures." 

2  Psalm  II.  7:  "Filius  meus  es  tu ;  ego  hodie  genui  te." 


Chapter  II. 
Sa  int    Joseph, 

"Jacob  begot  Joseph, the  husband 
of  Mar}^  of  whom  was  born  Jesus."  ^ 
Matth,  I.  16. 

The  spouse  whom  Providence  destined  for 
Mary  should  be,  as  she  was,  of  the  race  of  David, 
in  conformity  with  the  prescriptions  of  the  lyaw 
relating  to  marriage  in  Israel.^  The  Gospel 
teaches  us  by  what  succession  of  generations  he 
was  related  to  the  king-prophet.  Son  of  Jacob, 
his  direct  ancestors  were  Zorobabel,  who  had 
brought  back  the  people  from  their  captivit}^,  — 
Jechonias,  the  last  of  the  kings  of  Juda,  —  Eze- 
cliias,  miraculously  recalled  from  the  gates  of 
death,  —  Acliaz,  to  Vv^hom  the  prophet  Isaias  had 
predicted  the  maternity  of  a  virgin, — Josaphat  the 
holy,  —  Roboam,  whose  yoke  the  ten  tribes  had 
shaken  off, — Solomon,  the  wisest  of  men  and  most 
glorious  of  monarchs.^  No  other  lineage  in  histor>^ 
can  bear  comparison  with  this,  even  before  it 
owned  the  sceptre:  for  before  it  came  to  David  we 
must   pass    from  Jesse,    Booz,   Juda,   Jacob,    and 

1  Matth.  I.  16.  Tradition  attributes  to  Jacob  two  other 
sons,  Joachim  and  Cleophas  (or  Alpheus).  The  result  is  that 
Mary,  the  daughter  of  Joachim,  was  the  niece  of  Joseph. 

2  Num.,  XXXVI.  7-10. 
s    Matth.  I.  7-16. 

(85) 


86  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Isaac,  to  Abraham,^  the  Father  of  believers,  and 
attain  in  him  the  limits  of  patriachal  history. 

"Assuredly,'^  says  Lacordaire,  *'the  house  of 
France  is  the  greatest  house  in  the  world.  It 
counts  eight  or  nine  centuries  of  royal  expansion, 
and  when  we  penetrate  further  back  to  discover  its 
first  traces,  we  distinguish  there,  perhaps,  some 
vestige  of  the  blood  of  Charlemagne;  this  man 
who  was,  after  Christ,  the  father  of  modern 
generations,  and  whose  name  still  remains  honoured 
above  all  other  names.  Add  to  the  grandeur  of 
the  period  and  this  lineage,  that  of  the  people 
governed  by  this  race,  of  the  reigns  famous  for 
their  victories,  others  for  their  sanctity,  others  for 
their  literature,  — all  by  their  union  with  the  on- 
ward march  of  events  which  have  shaped  the 
destiny  of  the  world  for  a  thousand  years:  and  you 
believe  without  trouble,  that  no  royal  house  can 
dispute  Avith  this,  the  honour  of  its  rank.  I  speak 
of  it  without  flattery,  today  when  the  thunderbolt 
has  fallen  on  the  old  stem  and  has  left  to  it  in 
exile,  the  living  scar  of  misfortune.  But  so  much 
glory  in  so  long  a  descent  will  seem  to  you  as 
nothing,  when  you  will  have  compared  it  with  the 
terrestial  descent  of  the  Son  of  God.^ 

But  the  ancestors  of  Jesus  Christ  were  the  same 
as  those  of  Joseph,  since  it  is  by  him  that  the 
Redeemer  wished  to  officially  unite  Himself  with 
David,  as  the  Gospel  gives  us  to  understand  when 

1    Matth.  I.  1-6. 

*    I/acordaire,  LXXIII.  Conference  de  Notre  Datne* 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  87 

it  says:  "Jacob  (great-grandson  of  tlie  king- 
prophet  by  Solomon  and  Zorobabel)  begot  Joseph, 
the  Spouse  of  Mary,  of  whom  is  born  Jesus,  who  is 
called  Christ."  1  To  Joseph,  then,  is  applicable 
the  eulogy  of  this  nobility  which  allows  us  to  see 
in  him,  not  only  the  first  gentleman  of  his  nation, 
but  even  the  first  gentleman  of  the  world. 

At  the  time  when  we  meet  him,  the  splendour 
which  surrounds  the  name  of  his  race  is  eclipsed : 
to  the  ostentation  of  the  kings  succeeded  a  medi- 
ocrity, far  removed  from  even  the  modest  fortune 
of  Isaias  the  shepherd.  At  Bethlehem,  where 
Booz  had  owned  extensive  property,  his  grandson 
possessed  only  one  house,  whose  site  the  pilgrim 
visits  to-day,  with  mingled  joy  and  sadness,  at  the 
thought  of  the  decadence  of  which  it  was  the  wit- 
ness.^ But  why  should  God  leave  the  glory  and 
riches  of  the  earth  to  Him  who  was  to  be  enriched 
and  glorified  above  the  angels  of  heaven? 

If  we  must  credit  the  supposed  Epistle  of  Saint 
Jerome, 2  or  rather,  the  Apocryphal  Gospel  of  the 
Infancy ,3  Joseph  was  bordering  on  old  age,  when 
he  was  called  to  the  honour  of  espousing  Mary.* 

Such  is  not,  however,  the  opinion  which  the 
rabbinical  doctrine  authorises,  according  to  which, 
to  unite  an  old  man  to  a  young  girl  would  have 

1  Matth.  I.  16. 

2  S.  Hieron.,  Epist.  Supp.y  1.  9. 

3  Cf.  Evangile  de  la  Nativite  (in  the  collection  of 
Gustave  Brunet,  second  edition). 

*  "Eratjosephgrandaevus."  {^Evangile  de  la  Nativite^  9. 
— Cf.  Prot'evangile  de  Jacques.^ 


88  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

been  a  profanation  of  .marriage.^  It  seems,  more- 
over, that  the  holy  Doctor  would  contradict  him- 
self, since  he  gives  as  a  reason  for  tlie  union  con- 
tracted between  Joseph  and  Mary,  the  need  v/liich 
the  divine  mother  would  have  of  a  support  during 
the  exile  in  Egypt. ^  It  is  difficult  to  see  in  an  old 
man  a  help  and  consolation  for  a  young  woman 
and  a  new-born  infant.  No  doubt,  the  East 
affords  mxore  than  one  example  of  old  age,  vigorous 
and  active,  as  that  of  Booz,  who  became  the 
spouse  of  Ruth  at  an  advanced  age,  and  never- 
theless, chief  of  the  illustrious  family  to  which 
Joseph  owed  his  origin.  It  is  not  the  less  true 
that  it  seems  better  to  attribute  to  Joseph,  follow- 
ing another  opinion,  a  m.aturity  in  keeping  with 
the  position  of  foster-father  of  Jesus. ^ 

Be  that  as  it  may,  he  was  a  just  man,  on  the 
authority  of  Truth  itself."*  Another  Joseph  had 
made  the  same  name  illustrious  by  his  chastity, 
his  prudence,  and  the  high  offices  that  had  been 
conferred  upon  liim;^  but  how  much  more  this 
one,  in  the  words  of  Saint  Bernard,^  merited  this 
mysterious  naruQ ^  fdkis  accrescens,  "the  son  of  all 

1  "To  unite  a  youug  girl  to  an  old  man , "  said  the  rabbins, 
"would  be  to  her  dishonour."  Cf.  Rossi,  Bulletino  di  archeo- 
logia  cvistiana,  1865,  p.  26—32  and  66—72. 

2  S.  Hieron.,  lib.  I.  Comment  in  Matth.:  "Ut  in  Aegyp- 
tum  fugiens  haberet  (MariaJ  solatium." 

^     "Juvenis  vel  vir,  triginta,   quadragintave  annorum." 
(Suarez,  /;/j.  D.  Thoniae  dispiit.  VII.  sect.  III.) 
^    Matth.  I.  19;  "Joseph  ,  .  .  cum  esset  Justus.'* 

5  .  Genes.,  XXXIX.  7-12.  —XLI.  1-39  etc. 

6  S.  Bernard.,  Hoffril. //.  Sup.  Missus. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  89 

abundance,"  or  "of  all  increase."  The  first 
Joseph  was  only  the  figure  of  the  second,  as  the 
wheat  distributed  by  him  to  the  famished  Egyp- 
tians was  the  remote  figure  of  the  living  bread 
with  which  the  disciples  of  Christ  would  one  day 
be  nourished.^  Thus  all  eulogy  seems  as  useless 
to  the  Fathers  and  panegyrists.  They  would 
willingly  apply  to  him  the  words  of  David  to  God 
Himself,  "Tibi  silentium  laus"  ;^  praise,  as  Saint 
Maximin  says,  would  take  away  from  the  per- 
fection which  it  undertakes  to  celebrate.^ 

When  Mary  attained  her  fourteenth  year,^  the 
priests  to  whose  care  she  had  been  confided, 
thought  of  finding  her  a  spouse.  Tradition  has 
never  hesitated  over  this  intention  of  the  priests, 
thus  giving  us  reason  to  think  that  Joachim  and 
Hannah  were  no  longer  in  this  world,  and  that  the 
young  girl  could,  at  the  most,  demand  for  herself 
the  patronage  of  Zachary  in  the  Temple.^  He,  in 
the  opinion  of  Sepp,  handed  her  over  to  her 
relations  who  were  in  Nazareth,  and  this  we  must 
X^robably  understand  as  an  appeal  to  their  friend- 
ship, and  not  as  a  final  renunciation  of  his  guar- 
dianship, as  we  learn  from  the  Gospel  of  the 
Infancy.  According  to  this  document,  which  is 
very  ancient  and  worthy  of  respect,  the  High 
Priest,  or  the  chief  of  the  course  on  service  in  the 

1  S.  Bernardin.  Sen.,  Serni.  I  of  S,  Joseph. 

2  Psalm  LXIV.  2.  {sec.Hebr.)     • 
'    S.  Maxim.,  HoniiL  59. 

^    S.  Hieron.,  Epist.  supp.,  4.  8. 
^    Protevangile  de  Jacques. 


90  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Temple,  called  together  the  members  of  the 
family  of  David  who  were  in  a  position  to  aspire 
to  the  hand  of  the  heiress  of  Joachim.  Joseph 
was  of  the  number,  and  was  obliged  to  present 
himself,  reluctantly,  with  the  others,  if  we  must 
accept  the  opinion  which  attributes  to  him  an  age 
little  in  keeping  with  the  role  of  a  suitor.  Never- 
theless, he  v/as  the  most  closely  allied  to  the 
virgin,  and  hence  designated  as  having  the  first 
right. ^  All  the  world  knows  the  delightful  picture 
of  Raphael,  the  Espousals,  in  the  Brera  museum, ^ 
and  the  story  of  the  rod  blossoming  in  the  hand  of 
Joseph,  a  legend  if  you  will,  but  delightful,  and 
so  probable  that  one  would  be  sorry  to  see  it 
contradicted.  If  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  visible  in 
the  form  of  a  dove  on  the  apex  of  the  re-blossomed 
stem, 3  was  He  not  there,  hovering  over  the  head 
of  His  elect,  and  pointing  him  out  to  the  High 
Priest,  who  should  choose,  as  a  prophet,  the  guar- 
dian of  Mary  and  the  foster-father  of  Jesus? 

Tradition  assigns  the  date  of  this  union  to  the 
23rd  of  January,*  which  the  Church  has  con- 
secrated in  selecting  that  day  for  the  Espousals  of 
Our  Lady. 

The  couple  were  scarcely  united  when  they 
separated.  Joseph  returned  to  Bethlehem,  to  dis- 
pose of  his  house,  and  make  preparation  for  his 
solemn  marriage.      Mary,  in  company  with  some 

1  Sepp,  Vie  de  N.-S.,  J.  C,  I.  p.  223. 

2  At  Milan. 

^    S.  Hieron.,  loc.  cit.,  8 — 9. 

^     Of  the  year  747,  according  to  Sepp,  loc.  cit. 


THE  PRIENDSHIP3  OE  JESUS.  91 

of  her  companions  and  relatives,  directed  her  steps 
towards  Nazareth,  where  she  should  await  the 
hour  of  her  solemn  reception  into  the  dwelling  of 
her  spouse.^  The  Angel  Gabriel  soon  manifested 
himself  on  the  threshold  of  the  sanctuary  where 
she  dwelt  in  prayer  and  work.  Some  days  only, 
some  hours  perhaps,  separated  the  moment  of  her 
arrival  at  Nazareth  and  that  of  the  Incarnation  of 
the  divine  Word.^ 

Three  months  later  she  returned  to  Ain-Karim 
in  company  with  Joseph,  and  there  he  ascertained 
with  astonishment  that  his  companion  was  about 
to  become  a  mother.  An  indefinable  anguish  tore 
the  heart  of  the  just  man:  he  knew  not  what  to 
resolve  in  such  an  extremity.  To  take  with  him 
the  spouse  whom  he  considered  defamed  was  not 
possible;  to  refer  her  to  the  judgment  of  the  priests 
was  repugnant  to  him,  for  this  was  to  lose  her 
altogether,  and  the  goodness  of  his  heart  was 
opposed  to  such  a  course.^  Perhaps  also,  as  Saint 
Jerome  has  thought,  the  conviction  of  the  impec- 
cable chastity  of  Mary  made  him  suspect  a  mystery, 
the  revelation  of  which  he  should  await  in  respect- 
ful silence.*  In  any  case,  it  seemed  best  to  send 
her  away  privately,^  to  retire  himself  for  a  time  to 

1  Cf.  Kiddouschin,  I.  1.  —  Mischna,  Ketouboth,  5,  2.  etc. 

2  S.  Hieron.,  Epist.  stipp.,  loc.  cit.,  10. 

3  Matth.  I.  18-20. 

*  S.  Hieron.,  lib.  I.  Cofnment.  in  Matth.:  *^ Hoc  testimo- 
nium Mariae  est^  quod  Joseph  sciens  illius  castitatem,  et  ad- 
mirans  quod  evenerat,  celat  silentio  cujus  inysteriu7n  ne- 
sciebat. ' ' 

^  The  Law,  so  interpreted  by  the  Rabbins,  permitted 
him  to  do  so.     (Cf.  Maimonides,  Bereschith  Rabba.) 


92  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

permit  God  to  speak,  or  the  scandal  to  disappear. 
But  hov/  hard  it  was  to  come  to  this  repudiation, 
after  his  first  hopes! 

"To  v/hat  trials,"  exclaims  Bossuet,  "does  not 
God  subject  holy  souls!  Joseph  saw  himself 
obliged  to  abandon,  as  an  unfaithful  spouse,  her 
whom  he  had  thought  to  be  the  most  pure  of  all 
virgins.  .  .  .  "What  sorrow,  to  find  himself  mistaken 
in  his  opinion  of  her  chastity  and  her  virtue,  to 
lose  her  whom  he  loved,  and  to  leave  her  without 
help,  a  prey  to  calumny  and  public  vengeance! 
God  could  have  spared  him  all  this  trouble,  by 
revealing  to  him  sooner  the  mystery  of.  the  mater- 
nity of  his  chaste  companion;  but  his  virtue  would 
not  have  been  put  to  the  test  which  was  prepared 
for  him;  and  vv^e  should  not  have  witnessed  the 
victory  of  Joseph  over  the  most  indomitable  of  all 
passions,  and  the  most  just  jealousy  which  was 
ever  conceived  would  not  have  been  laid  prostrate 
at  the  feet  of  virtue."  ^ 

If  Bossuet  had  not  pronounced  the  word  jeal- 
ousy,  we  should  never  have  dared  to  w^ite  it;  and 
yet  how  naturally  it  comes  here !  Let  us  not 
forget,  the  great  Bishop  says  distinctly,  Joseph 
loved  Mary,  with  the  most  pure,  the  most  elevated, 
the  most  supernatural  of  loves,  it  is  true;  but  after 
all,  he  loved  her  as  a  husband  loves  the  spouse 
whom  he  has  made  his  companion,  the  half  of  his 
soul,  the  pledge  of  his  joy  and  his  strength  in  the 
future.     The   holiness  of  Joseph   inclines  us  too 

1    Bossuet:  I.  Elevation  dc  la  XVI.  semaine. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  93 

niucli  to  suppress  tlie  man  in  liini,  and  we  succeed 
in  making  him  a  being  absolutely  above  tlie  con- 
ditions of  our  nature  and  our  life.  Abundant  and 
efficacious  as  it  may  be,  grace  does  not  destroy 
nature,  and  the  perfection  of  which  it  is  the  prin- 
ciple does  not  go  so  far  as  to  suppress  that  which 
is  the  very  essence  of  humanity.  Joseph  loved 
Mary;  she  had  been  taken  from  him;  his  heart 
suffered  all  the  more  because  he  had  loved  ardently 
what  deserved  to  be  loved  beyond  all  measure. 

But  we  must  admire  here  the  disinterestedness 
of  this  man  overwhelmed  by  sorrow.  He  does  not 
dream  of  himself :  he  has  no  anxiety  but  for  the 
compromised  Virgin,  and  all  his  thoughts  con- 
spired to  soothe  for  her  the  bitterness  and  the 
shame  of  separation.  Is  not  this  indeed  the 
triumph  of  love,  and  also  of  charity,  and  shall  we 
find  in  the  life  of  Joseph  one  hour  in  which  he 
seems  more  worthy  of  our  strongest  admiration? 

Let  us  hear  Bossuet.  "In  this  plight  the  angel 
of  the  lyord  was  sent  to  Joseph,  and  said  to  him: 
^Joseph,  son  of  David,  fear  not  to  take  unto  thee 
Mary,  thy  wife;  for  that  which  is  conceived  in 
her  is  of  the  Holy  Ghost. '^  What  calm  succeeded 
these  words !  what  transport !  what  humility  in 
Joseph !  Let  us  leave  the  conception  of  it  to  those 
to  whom  God  deigns  to  manifest  it. 

'And  she  shall  bring  forth  a  son:  and  you  shall 
call  His  name  Jesus.' '^  Why  you?  You  are  not 
His  father;  He  has  no  Father  but  God:  but  God 

1  Matth.  I.  20. 

2  Id.,  ibid.,  21. 


94  'THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

has  transmitted  to  you  all  His  rights.  You  will 
take  the  place  of  a  father  to  Jesus  Christ.  You 
shall  in  fact  be  His  father,  in  a  certain  manner, 
since,  formed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  her  who  is 
yours.  He  is  also  yours  by  this  title.  Assume 
then,  with  the  authority  and  rights  of  a  father,  a 
paternal  heart  for  Jesus.  God,  who  has  made 
individually  all  the  hearts  of  men,i  forms  today  in 
you  the  heart  of  a  father;  you  are  blest,  since  at 
the  same  time.  He  gives  to  Jesus,  for  you,  the 
heart  of  a  son!  You  are  the  true  spouse  of  the 
holy  mother;  you  share  with  her  this  beloved  Son, 
and  the  graces  which  are  attached  to  His  love. 
Go  then  in  good  time,  name  this  Child  ;  give  Him 
the  name  of  Jesus  for  you  and  for  us,  that  He  may 
be  our  Saviour  as  well  as  yours.  "^ 

Obedient  to  the  voice  of  the  Angel,  Joseph  then 
took  Mary  into  his  house,  where  all  the  joys  of 
Heaven  entered  with  her.  Ineffable  effusions 
placed  these  two  souls  in  perfect  communion:  the 
secret  of  God  belonged  to  them  equally,  and  their 
days  passed  in  learning  to  admire  and  comprehend 
as  much  as  was  expedient  for  their  mission.  Who 
shall  tell  of  the  respect  and  tenderness  of  Joseph 
for  Mary?  But  who  shall  tell  the  affectionate 
deference  of  Mary  to  Joseph?  She  bore  in  her 
bosom  the  Son  of  God  made  man,  and  Joseph 
venerated  her  as  a  new  ark  of  the  covenant:  he 
was  to  be  the  guardian,  the  foster-father,  the 
protector  of  the  Word  Incarnate,  and  Mary  saw  in 

1  Psalm.  XXXII.  15. 

2  Bossuet,  loc.  cit. 


THE  FPvlENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  95 

him  the  representative  here  below  of  the  authority 
of  God  over  her  Son.  Their  hearts  were  united  in 
bonds  that  were  alwa3^s  drawn  more  closely  in 
realization  of  their  common  vocation:  loving  each 
other  always  more  in  Him  and  for  Him.  Was 
not  this  one  of  their  duties  towards  the  divine 
Infant  who  had  been  given  them? 

Into  the  midst  of  this  peace  and  joy  burst,  all 
at  once,  the  news  that  Caesar  had  ordered  the 
census  of  his  subjects  in  Palestine,  and  that  his 
lieutenant  in  Syria,  the  consul  Sulpicius  Quiri- 
nius,  summoned  in  consequence  to  Bethlehem,  all 
the  descendants  of  David. ^  It  was  winter,  and  the 
first  rains  had  rendered  the  way  diflficult.  Joseph 
and  Mary  chose,  nevertheless,  without  delay,  the 
route  through  Judea,  the  Virgin  seated  on  one  of 
those  vigorous  and  nimble  little  asses  which  one 
meets  in  all  the  tracks  of  the  East,  the  patriarch 
walking  by  her  side,  a  staff  in  his  hand,  and  his 
shoulder  burdened  with  provision  for  the  journey. 
If  the  legate  of  Augustus  had  seen  them  pass,  he 
would  without  doubt  have  smiled  over  the  misery 
to  which  the  race  of  the  Kings  of  Juda  was 
reduced.  How  different  was  their  fortune  to  that 
of  Octavius,  and  what  an  abyss  between  their 
future  and  that  of  the  heirs  of  the  Empire!  Poor 
Quirinius !  Not  more  than  King  Herod ,  his  associate 
in  the  government  of  Israel,  did  he  suspect  the 
career  opened  to  the  Son  of  the  humble  woman 
whose  domestic  life  he  had  broken  in  upon,  and 
who  should  become  a  mother  at  the  end  of  the 

1    Ivuke  II.  1-4. 


96  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

journey  imposed  by  the  whim  of  the  Emperor. 
I^ess  still  did  he  know  that  his  master  himself  was, 
in  the  hands  of  this  unborn  Infant,  an  instrument 
for  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies  announcing 
the  establishment  of  His  own  throne  upon  the 
ruins  of  all  earthly  kingdoms. 

At  nightfall,  on  their  entry  into  Bethlehem, 
the  saintly  travellers  found  themselves  in  great  em- 
barassment.  The  house  of  Joseph,  let,  it  is  said^ 
to  strangers,  was  closed  to  them,  all  the  dwellings 
of  their  friends  occupied,  and  the  caravansery  itself 
crowded  to  such  an  extent  that  no  place  vvas  left 
for  them.  ^ 

Meanwhile,  fatigue  gained  on  Mary,  and  the 
hour  of  her  delivery  approached;  she  had  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  first  lodging  they  could  find,  and 
this  was  one  of  those  grottos  which  afforded  shelter 
to  labourers  and  shepherds,  with  their  beasts  of 
burden.  According  to  a  popular  tradition  the 
master  of  this  poor  place  seemed  at  first  to  decide 
upon  refusing  Joseph,  but  touched  by  the  grace 
and  modesty  of  the  Virgin,  he  softened  to  the 
extent  of  tendering  his  cordial  services.  '-^  In  any 
case,  at  the  hour  of  midnight,  Mary  placed  the 
divine  Infant  in  the  hands  of  Joseph,  who  was  to 
be  His  guardian  and  protector. 

1  Luke  11.  7:  ''Non  erat  eis  locus  in  diversorio.*^ 
^  To  quote  from  the  beautiful  hymn  ''Noel"  : 
"Je  suis  le  maitre  de  la  grange 
Et  c'est  ^  moi  qu'elle  appartient,"  etc. 
It  is  impossible  for  us  to  discover  on  what  foundation  this 
belief  rests. 


"THE  I^RIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  ^7 

Hour  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  hu- 
manity, whose  sweetness  God  left  entirely  to  the 
two  creatures  He  had  most  loved!  The  shepherds 
were  already  invited  to  the  scene  of  this  peerless 
birth  ;  but  the  first  adorers  of  the  Christ-King, 
those  who  first  kissed  His  sacred  feet  and  on  whom 
His  first  look  fell,  those  to  whom  His  first  smile 
opened  Heaven,  were  not  the  shepherds,  not  even 
the  angels  whose  Gloria  was  but  an  echo  to  the 
vibrating  tones  of  Mary  and  Joseph.  What  did 
they  say  to  Him  in  their  ecstasy?  He  alone  could 
repeat  it.  He  who  overwhelmed  them  with  hap- 
piness, and  placed  upon  their  lips  the  praise  in 
which  He  delighted. 

Then  came  the  day  of  Circumcision  on  which 
Joseph  had  the  honour  of  giving  the  name  of  Jesus 
to  the  Redeemer  of  Israel ;  next  the  Presentation 
in  the  Temple,  with  the  j^rophecy  of  Simeon, 
full  at  once  of  joys  and  sadness  ;  after  that  the 
Epiphany,  on  which  the  Magi  offered  at  His 
cradle  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh  —  days 
whose  incidents  Joseph,  like  Mary,  pondered  in 
his  heart,  ^  without  perceiving  as  yet  the  tribul- 
ations of  the  morrow. 

Hell  watched,  and  its  hatred  was  not  slow  in 
putting  Joseph's  fidelity  to  the  test. 

"Arise  and  take  the  child  and  his  mother,  and 
fly  into  Egypt;  and  be  there  until  I  shall  tell  thee. 
For  it  will  come  to  pass  that  Herod  will  seek  the 

1  Ivuke  II,  19:  ''Mary  kept  all  these  words,  pondering  them 
hi  her  heart.  ^'' 


98  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

child  to  destroy  Hiin!"^  It  was  once  again  the 
voice  of  Gabriel,  but  it  brought  trouble  and  fear, 
not  consolation  nor  hope.  The  angel  himself 
seemed  alarmed  at  the  peril  of  the  Child:  "and  it 
seems,''  says  an  ancient  Father,  "that  terror  had 
seized  Heaven  before  spreading  itself  over  the 
earth."  ^  Joseph  did  not  hesitate  an  instant.  In 
the  night,  by  difficult  paths,  through  the  obstruc- 
tions of  the  multitudes  around  the  city,  at  the  risk 
of  encountering  at  every  step  the  agents  of  Herod, 
he  guided  the  flight  of  the  Virgin  and  the  divine 
Infant,  with  the  calm  of  the  most  profound  con- 
fidence in  God.  Then,  when  the  sun  rose  and 
there  was  greater  danger  than  in  the  night,  v/hen 
the  ill-disposed  could  be  avoided,  he  continued  his 
journey  towards  Egypt,  with  the  same  tranquil 
assurance;  not  that  he  did  not  feel  his  whole  being 
tremble  at  the  thought  of  the  dangers  to  be  en- 
countered, but  because  he  had  made  the  sacrifice 
of  himself,  and  knew  that  Providence  watched 
with  him  over  the  trust  confided  to  his  care. 
Many  nights  and  days  follov/ed  each  other  with 
fatigues  and  privations  of  every  kind,  even  to  the 
moment  when  the  fugitives  touched  the  soil  of 
Misraim,  pre-em.inently  the  strange  land  in  the 
eyes  of  the  children  of  Israel.  ^ 

There  they  might  find  security,  but  with  iso- 

1  Matth.,  II,  13:  ''Surge,  accipe puertiin  et  matreui  ejus  et 
fuge  in  Aegyptuin.''' 

2  Bossuet,  III.  Elevation  de  la  XIX.  semaine,  Cit.  S.  Pe- 
trus  Chrysologus. 

3  Exod.,  II,  22  etc. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUSo  99 

lation,  misery  and  all  its  accompanying  evils. 
The  Jews  were  numerous  in  Egypt,  especially  in 
the  town  of  Alexandria,  where  the  kings  and  pre- 
fects had  given  them  a  privileged  position.  It 
would  not  do,  however,  to  dream  of  staying  in  this 
opulent  city  where  the  friends  and  clients  of  Herod 
were  in  the  majority,  distributing  favours,  and 
capable  of  all  crimes.  Joseph  therefore  passed 
through  the  territory  of  Gessen,  crossed,  at  the 
toll-bridge  of  Kantarah,  the  canal  which  connected 
the  lakes  with  the  sea,  and  journeyed  tov^rards 
Heliopolis,  v/here  he  knew  he  would  find  a  power- 
ful Jewish  community.  ^ 

The  Greek  town  of  Heliopolis  was  situated  at 
about  fifteen  miles  to  the  north  of  Memphis,  on 
the  spot  where  formerly  had  flourished  the  Egyp- 
tian town  of  On,  one  of  the  most  ancient  in  histo- 
ry. 2  In  consequence  of  the  emigration  brought 
about  by  the  violence  of  Antiochus  Epiphanius, 
the  priest  Onias,  fulfilling  the  prophecy  of  Isaias,^ 
had  here  constructed  a  temple  on  the  model  of  that 
at  Jerusalem.  The  emigrant  Jews  continued  to 
send    presents    to    the    sanctuary    of   Moriah,    but 

*  Sepp  (t.  1st,  p.  251)  pretends  that  this  town  served  as  a 
refuge  for  the  proscribed  and  malcontents  under  Herod.  It 
had,  in  fact,  become  an  asylum  for  many  of  the  discontented 
Jews  since  Jeroboam  fled  from  the  anger  of  the  sons  of  Salo- 
mon. 

2  Maspero,  Hist,  ancienne  des  peuples  de  V  Orient,  p.  14 
and  22. — The  reference  here  is  to  On  of  the  North,  founded  by 
the  tribe  of  Anon,  (Anamim  of  the  Scripture,  Genes.  X,  13)  of 
prehistoric  times. 

3  Isai,  XIX,  19:  "In  that  day  there  shall  be  an  altar  of 
the  I,ord  in  the  midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 


lOO  THE  FRIKNDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

identifying  themselves  so  closely  with  their  new 
country,  they  transformed  it  into  a  particular  State, 
bearing  the  name  of  Honion,  and  provided  for  the 
service  of  the  temple  with  the  revenues  which  the 
king,  Ptolomy  Philometer,  had  made  over  to  it. 
A  strong  castle  governed  by  the  High  Priest  as 
Alabark,  protected  the  district  and  the  town,  which 
had  become  for  its  new  inhabitants  Irhazedeq,  the 
city  of  justice^  as  Jerusalem  was  the  city  of  peace} 

The  faithful  of  the  temple  of  Onias  v/ere  soon 
considered  schismatics  by  the  zealots  of  the  I^aw, 
but  a  questionable  tolerance  ended  by  palliating 
the  endeavours  of  the  emigrants,  and  the  High 
Priest  of  Heliopolis  was,  it  is  said,  recognised  as  a 
participator  in  the  privileges  attached  to  the  office 
of  sovereign  priesthood.  ^ 

Cleopatra  had. favoured  the  colonial  Jews,  who 
could  almost  have  believed  themselves  at  home  in 
the  forest  of  balm  trees  brought  from  Jericho,  and 
planted  by  the  queen  round  Heliopolis.  Caesar 
continued  this  benevolence  towards  them,  of  which 
Augustus  changed  nothing.  In  profound  peace, 
the  Alexandrians  acquired  riches,  abandoned  them- 
selves to  pleasure  and  pomp,  imprudently  stirring 
up  jealousies  which  soon  burst  forth  in  hatred 
against  them,  whilst  their  brethren  of  Honion  per- 
severed in  their  fidelity  to  the  law  and  to  the  cus- 
toms of  their  ancestors.  The  memory  of  the  first 
Joseph  seemed  to  protect  them  against  the  tempta- 

1  Josephus,  Antiq.,  XII.  and  XIII.  —  Cf.  Talmud  of  Jeru- 
salem, lomtty  VI,  43. 

2  I^edrain,  Hist,  du  peuple  d' Israel,  t.  11,  p.  253. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  lOI 

tions    which    misled  the    hellenists  of    the    lower 
Delta. 

It  was  towards  these  that  the  holy  exiles  bent 
their  steps,  counting,  no  doubt,  on  the  charity 
which  the  true  Israelites  practised  among  the 
poor  and  strangers. ^  Did  they  find  their  hopes 
realised?  Tradition  is  silent  on  this  point;  it  is 
satisfied  to  note  their  sojourn  in  a  small  house  in 
old  Cairo,  ^  and  the  preference  which  Mary  showed 
for  the  shade  of  a  sycamore,  which  is  held  to 
this  day  in  great  veneration  among  the  natives 
of  all  religions.^  It  does  not  state  precisely  the 
length  of  their  sojourn,  and  we  are  forced  to  con- 
jecture, if  we  refuse  to  accept  the  authority  of 
the  Apocrypha,  that  the  time  was  three  years.^ 
But  tradition  authorises  us  in  believing  that  Joseph 
and  Mary  lived  in  exile  by  the  work  of  their  hands, 
—  he  using  the  hatchet  and  the  chisel,^  she  pro- 
ducing with  her  needle  those  exquisite  designs,  the 
remembrance  of  which  lived  long  among  the  early 
Christians.  6  But  work  was  sometimes  scarce; 
sometimes  also  the  payment  of  their  small  wage  was 
long  deferred.  Privations  then  became  more  pain- 
ful, and  particularly  on  account  of  the  divine  Child, 

1  Exod.,  XXII,  21;  — Ivevit.,  XIX,  34;  —  Num.,  XV, 
26,  etc. 

2  At  the  present  day  the  Coptic  convent  of  Sitti-Mariam. 

3  At  Matarieh  CMatarea). 

^  Evangile  de  I'Enfance,  c.  XXVI.  —  S.  Epiphanus  con- 
siders it  as  two  years.  —  Vide  supra,  c.  II. 

5  Le  Camus,  Vie  de  N.  S.  Jesus-Christy  t.  1.  p.  207;  Frette, 
Notre  Seigneur,  t.  1.  p.  123. 

*  V.  The  Apocrypha,  and  S.  Ephrem. 


I02  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

whose  misery  saddened  them  more  than  their  own 
destitution. 

Meanwhile,  the  hand  of  God  was  heavily 
pressed  on  Herod.  After  a  long  agony,  which  he 
rendered  more  cruel  by  the  murder  of  his  son 
Antipater,  the  usurper  died,  leaving  his  other 
children,  Archelaus,  Antipas,  and  Philip,  to  dis- 
pute over  the  fragments  of  their  heritage.  Rome 
took  no  notice  of  his  last  wishes:  instead  of  placing 
the  crown  of  Juda  on  the  head  of  Archelaus  or 
Antipas,  she  divided  the  kingdom  into  tetrarchies 
vvhicli  she  gave  as  an  alms  to  the  worthy  sons  of 
her  client.  Still  she  reserved  for  herself  the  right 
to  take  back  what  she  had  so  disdainfully  conced- 
ed, as  the  sequel  very  soon  revealed. 

The  Angel  appeared  again  to  Joseph  —  ^'Rise 
and  take  the  Child  and  His  mother,  and  go  into 
the  land  of  Israel :  for  they  are  dead  who  sought 
the  life  of  the  Child.  "^ 

Was  this  a  joy  that  the  Angel  announced? 
Doubtless,  since  he  foretold  a  clear  passage  and 
serene  sky.  But  in  the  country  once  more  opened 
to  the  exiles,  what  remained  to  them  of  their 
goods  and  their  affections?  Might  they  not  find 
mourning  and  ruins  on  their  arrival?  What  they 
had  been  able  to  learn  during  their  sojourn  at 
Matarieh  was  not  calculated  to  make  them  rejoice, 
and  their  native  land  did  not  appear  very  bright 
seen  through  the  tears  which  welled  in  their  eyes. 
If  the  exile   is    alone   everywhere,'^  the    poor   feel 

1  Matth.,  II,  19-20. 

2  Lametinais,  Paroles  d'uu  croyaut. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  103 

much  the  same,  and  are  indifferent  about  changing 
the  place  of  their  trial,  if  they  do  not  see  their 
home  in  a  supernatural  light,  and  trace  it  to  the 
author  of  their  being. 

Egypt,  it  is  true,  is  the  land  of  magnificent  sights 
and  inspiring  recollections  ;  by  this  title  it  should 
appeal  to  the  heart  of  Joseph,  a  m.an  most  capable 
of  appreciating  and  loving  it,  though,  like  the 
son  of  Jacob,  he  had  been  brought  there  against 
his  will.  The  city  of  Heliopolis  itself  should  have 
pleased  him,  because  it  had  been  founded  by  one 
of  the  grandsons  of  that  Noah  whom  he  numbered 
among  his  direct  ancestors,  ^  because  the  knowledge 
of  primitive  traditions  was  for  a  long  time  preserved 
there, ^  and  because  it  was  the  country  of  Aseneth, 
the  virgin  from  whom  were  born  Ephraim  and 
Manasses,  the  sons  of  his  illustrious  namesake. ^ 
Beside  him  flowed  the  Nile,  whose  streams  had 
watered  the  flocks  of  Jacob,  borne  the  cradle  of 
Moses,  and  elicited  the  admiration  of  Isaias.'*  On 
the  horizon,  empurpled  by  the  setting  sun,  stood 
out  the  grand  silhouettes  of  the  Pyramids  and  the 
Sphinx  — enigmas  of  stone,  whose  riddle  was  known 
but  to  those   who    preserved    the   correct    notions 

1  Genes.,  X,  6  and  13:  ^^  And  the  son  of  Chant:  Chus,  and 
Mesraim  ....     Mesraim  begot  Ludhn  and  Anainini.'''' 

2  Maspero,  Hist,  anciemie^  p,  14  and  ^2.  —  Cf.  Herodo- 
tus, II,  111,  59. 

^  Genes.,  XEI,  45:  '■'■Aiidgave  him  to  wife  Aseneth  the 
dazcghter  of  Putiphare  priest  of  Heliopolis. ' ' 

■*  Isai.,  XXIII,  3 :  "  The  seed  of  the  Nile  in  tnany  waters, 
the  harvest  of  the  river  is  her  revenue:  and  she  is  become  the 
mart  of  the  nations.''' 


I04  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

of  God,  of  the  world,  and  of  humanity.  Around 
it,  in  the  far  distance,  extended  the  pasture  lands 
of  Gessen,  where  centuries  had  seen  successive 
generations  of  shepherds,  sons  of  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  with  varying  fortunes,  until  the  day  of  the 
first  pasch  and  the  exodus  for  the  Promised  lyand. 
It  was  there  that  the  Hebrews  had  built  Ramesses 
and  Pithom,  ^  from  there  they  had  set  out  towards 
the  Red  Sea,  carrying  with  them  the  spoils  of 
Egypt,  and  pursued  by  Menephtah,  the  Pharaoh 
destined  to  perish  in  the  waves.  The  land,  the 
waters,  the  monuments,  and  the  men,  all  appealed 
to  his  imagination, 'his mind  and  his  heart:  who  could 
believe  him  to  be  untouched  and  unsympathetic? 
But  he  was  employed  in  thinking,  in  studying, 
in  loving,  and  in  serving !  What  could  the  world 
say  to  him  while  he  contemplated,  sleeping  in  the 
arms  of  the  Virgin-Mother,  the  King  of  heaven 
and  earth,  clothed  in  human  form  and  confided  to 
his  care?  Mystery,  more  profound  than  that  of 
the  pyramids  !  Spectacle,  more  entrancing,  than 
that  of  the  sages  of  Heliopolis  !  To  this  hidden 
God  who  stooped  to  require  his  prudence,  he  did 
not  know  if  he  showed  more  respect  or  love. 
What  did  it  matter  then,  to  go  or  to  return,  pro- 
vided that  he  was  docile  to  the  voice  whose  form- 
idable power  he  recognised  in  the  indistinct  utter- 
ances of  the  Infant  lips  !  He  had  fled  from  Palestine, 
less  to  preserve  than  to  obey  Him:  now  he  return- 
ed to  Palestine  to  fulfil  the  prophecy  which  said  of 

1  Ramesses     {Tell-el-Maskhouta);    —     Pithom    {Tell-el- 
Kebir.) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  105 

Him:  "I  have  recalled  my  Son  from  Egypt. "^ 
As  Saint  Augustine  has  said  of  the  blessed  old 
man,  Simeon:  "He  carried  the  Child,  but  it  was 
the  Child  who  guided  him."'"^ 

All  the  routes  were  not  equally  easy  to  traverse; 
far  otherwise.  "Strange  state,"  says  Bossuet; 
"strange  state  for  a  poor  artisan,  who  saw  himself 
suddenly  banished,  and  why?  Because  he  is  the 
guardian  of  Jesus,  and  has  Him  in  his  company. 
Before  He  was  born,  he  and  his  holy  spouse  lived 
poorly,  but  tranquilly,  in  their  home,  gaining  their 
livelihood  quietly  by  the  labour  of  their  hands; 
but  as  soon  as  Jesus  is  given  to  them,  there  is  no 
more  repose.  However,  Joseph  was  submissive, 
and  did  not  complain  of  this  troublesome  Child, 
who  brought  them  but  persecution:  he  sets  out,  he 
goes  into  Egypt  where  he  has  no  home,  without 
knov/ing  when  he  shall  return  to  his  country,  to 
his  workshop,  to  his  poor  dwelling.  V/e  do  not 
possess  Jesus  for  nothing,  we  must  bear  a  part  in 
His  trials."^ 

The  re-entry  into  the  Holy  Land  was  a  cross 
added  to  so  many  others.  On  his  approach  to 
Bethlehem,  where  Joseph  naturally  thought  of  tak- 
ing up  his  abode,  he  learned  of  the  installation  of 
Archelaus  as  tetrarch  of  Judea.  The  son  was  the 
reproduction  of  the  father,  and  it  would  have  been 

^  Osee,  XI,  1 :  '-Ex  Egypto  vocavi  Filium  meum." 

2  S.  Augustine,  Semi.  XHI de  Tempore;    "Simeon  senex 

ferebat  Christum  iufautem  :  Christus  regebat  vSimeouis  senec- 

tutem." 

^  III.  Elevation  de  la  XIX.  semaifie. 


Io6  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

folly  to  trust  him.  The  abode  of  Bethlehem  was 
then  interdicted  to  the  descendants  of  David,  and 
the  returning  exiles,  avoiding  Jerusalem,  took  their 
way  towards  Nazareth  to  establish  themselves  in 
the  House  of  Mary.^  All  that  was  done  by  the 
order  of  the  Most  High,  which  Joseph  received  in 
a  dream,  —  "in  order,"  says  Saint  Matthew,  "that 
lie  should  fulfil  the  words  of  the  prophets:  He 
shall  be  called  the  Nazarean.'^ 

Then  recommenced  for  the  holy  family  the 
former  life  of  Matarieh :  Joseph  retook  his  imple- 
ments of  carpentry,  Mary  her  needle.  Days  suc- 
ceeded days,  years  to  years,  without  any  apparent 
change,  unless  perhaps  to  accentuate  more  and 
more  the  poverty  in  which  they  had  already  liv^d. 
This  at  least  we  are  allowed  to  conclude  from  the 
condition  in  which  we  see  the  Son  of  Mary  later 
on,  without  a  stone  whereon  to  lay  His  head,^  even 
in  the  country  where  His  parents  had  possessed  a 
dwelling,  fields,  and  flocks. 

But  during  these  days  and  years  the  Child  grew, 
advancing  in  wisdom,  in  years,  and  in  grace  before 
God  and  man,^  under  the  care  of  those  to  whom  He 
was  subject,^  in  all  the  spontaneity  of  His  heart. 

1  Matth.,  II,  22-23:  ''Audiens  mUern  quod  Archelaus  reg- 
naret  in  Judaea  pro  Herode,  tiniuit  illo  ire:  et  admonitus  in 
soimiis.secessitin  partes  Galileae,  et  veniens  habitavitin  civi- 
tate  quae  vacatur  Nazareth.''' 

"  Luke,  IX,  58:  ^'Filius  autent  homiuis  non  habet  ubi 
caput  reclinet. ' ' 

3  Luke,  II,  52 :  ^'Et  Jesus projiciebaf  et  sapientia  et  aetate 
et  gratia.,  apud  Deutn  et  homines. 

^  Luke,  II,  51:  ''Et  erat  siibditus  illis.''^ 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  107 

Such  is,  in  fact,  the  doctrine  of  Saint  Thomas, 
who  does  not  fear  to  attribute  to  the  lessons  of 
Mary  a  share  in  this  advancement  of  Jesus  in  wis- 
dom and  in  grace/  Not  that  He  could  receive 
anything  or  acquire  anything,  properly  speaking, 
but  all  activity  becomes  perfect  by  practice,  in 
Jesus  as  in  all  m.en,  and  Mary  presided  over  this 
work  as  a  mother,  by  her  instructions  and  direc- 
tion. We  can  affirm  the  same  of  Joseph,  and  dif- 
ficult though  it  is  for  us  to  establish  harmony 
between  the  knov/ledge  acquired  by  Jesus  since  His 
conception,  and  its  growth  which  we  conceive  as  a 
consequence  of  the  perfection  of  His  organic  devel- 
opement,  it  is  none  the  less  permitted  us  to  con- 
gratulate the  parents  of  Jesus  on  the  education 
which  He  received.  This  is  the  saying  of  Bossuet,^ 
and  we  cannot  find  another  more  suitable  or  better 
adapted. 

God  does  not  allow  Himself  to  be  outdone  in 
generosity,  and  the  solicitude  of  Joseph  for  his 
divine  pupil  was  repaid  by  the  most  lively  grati- 
tude, or  we  should  rather  say,  by  the  most  ardent 
love,  for  gratitude  does  not  give  enough  in  such  a 
case.  Jesus  was  not  only  submissive,  according  to 
the  gospel  taken  in  its  strictest  sense,  He  gave 
Himself  entirely  to  him  who  reserved  nothing  for 
himself  in  conformity  with  the  promise  made  to  the 
Father  of  believers  :    "It   is    I   who  will  be    thy 

1  Stimm.  theoL,  3,  q.  VII,  12  ad  3ni ;  —  q.  XII,  1  ec  2;  — 
q.  XV,  8. 

2  VIII.  Elevation  de  la  XX.  semaine. 


I08  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

recompense,  greater  than  thou  shalt  be  able  to 
determine."  ^ 

Is  it  not  a  delightful  picture,  this  interior  of 
Nazareth,  in  spite  of  the  poverty  seated  on  the 
threshold  and  at  the  hearth?  In  the  transparent 
shade  of  the  workshop,  a  man  old  before  his  time, 
but  with  serene  brow,  bright  eyes,  smiling  mouth, 
works  in  wood  and  iron,'-^  as  a  clever  and  consci- 
entious artisan.  Nearer  the  threshold,  in  the  light, 
a  young  woman  of  incomparable  beauty  and  angelic 
modesty  turning  her  spindle  with  graceful  gesture, 
whilst  watching  the  play  of  a  Child  who  resembles 
her  and  who  returns  her  smile.  The  peace  of  Heaven 
pervades  this  dwelling  guarded  by  angels,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  rests  on  the  heads  of  those  who  inhabit 
it.  Jesus !  Mary  !  Joseph !  What  names,  and  of 
what  joy  are  they  not  the  symbols  !  O  Master !  God 
hidden  from  all,  except  to  these  two  blessed  beings, 
how  happy  are  those  whom  Thou  hast  thus  loved !  ^ 
But  also  how  worthy  they  were  of  being  so,  and 
how  Thou  shouldst  delight  in  their  familiarity  ! 

In  the  course  of  the  years  that  elapsed  between 
the  return  of  Joseph  and  his  death,  only  once  does 
the  Gospel  speak  of  him,  at  the  time  of  the  first 
journey  which  the  divine  Child  made  to  the 
Temple,  accompanied  by  His  mother  and  foster- 
father.     Nothing  is  more  interesting  and  instruc- 

i  Genes.,  XV,  1:  "Ego  protector  tuus  sum  et  merces  tua 
magna  uimis." 

2  * 'Faberlignarius. ' ' 

3  Eccles.,  XIvVIII.  11:  ''Blessed  are  they  that  saw  thee, 
and  were  honoured  with  thy  friendship.^'' 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  IO9 

tive   than  the    story    told    by    Saint    Luke   of   the 
events  of  this  journey. 

Every  year,  the  parents  of  Jesus  went  up  to 
Jerusalem  for  the  solemn  day  of  the  Pasch.  When 
He  had  attained  the  age  of  twelve  years,  they  v/ent 
there  together.  The  eight  days  over,  they  return- 
ed on  their  way,  but  the  Child  Jesus  remained  at 
Jerusalem  unknown  to  His  parents.  They,  believ- 
ing Him  to  be  with  some  of  their  party  in  the  cara- 
van, made  a  day's  journey,  at  the  end  of  which 
they  enquired  for  Him  in  vain  among  their  kins- 
men and  friends,  and  not  finding  him,  they  returned 
(from  Bireh)  ^  to  Jerusalem  to  seek  Him.  After  three 
days,  they  found  Him  in  the  Temple  seated  among 
the  doctors,  listening,  and  in  turn  interrogating 
them,  and  all  the  auditors  were  astonished  at  His 
prudence  and  learning.  The  sight  of  Him  filled 
them  with  admiration,  and  His  mother  said  to 
Him:  —  ''Son,  why  hast  thou  done  so  to  us? 
Behold,  thy  father  and  I  have  sought  Thee  sorrow- 
ing. And  He  said  to  them:  How  is  it  that  you 
sought  me?  Did  yon  not  know  that  I  must  be 
about  the  things  that  are  my  Father's?  And  they 
understood  not  the  word  that  he  spoke  unto 
them."  2 

We  have  not  to  prove  here  that  the  customs  of 
the  Jews  warranted  the  security  which  Mary  and 
Joseph  felt  during  the  first  day,  irrespective  of  the 
special  interposition  of  Providence.  We  shall  be 
better  employed  in  considering  the  anguish  of  the 

1  The  Bar-Ramath  of  Josue  (XIX.  8),  according  to  Seppo 

2  Luke  II,  41-50. 


no  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

holy  couple  when  they  ascertained  the  absence  of 
Jesus,  their  fruitless  search  during  three  days,  and 
their  admiration,  mingled  with  gladness,  when 
they  perceived  Him  in  the  Great  School,^  seated  in 
the  midst  of  the  doctors.  I^et  us  re-construct  the 
scene,  such  as  it  should  appear  to  us. 

While  Joseph  stifled  a  cry  of  joy  Mary  rushed 
towards  Jesus,  and  pressing  Him  to  her  heart, 
allowed  to  escape  her  this  exclamation  which 
revealed  all  her  soul  :  —  "My  Son,  why  hast  thou 
done  so  to  us?^'  The  maternal  love  which  mani- 
fests itself  first,  does  not,  however,  allow  her  to 
forget  that  she  is  not  the  only  one  who  loves  this 
Child;  there  are  two  whom  He  has  grieved,  and  as 
if  she  feared  He  would  not  understand,  she  accentu- 
ates the  thought:  —  "Your  father  and  I  have 
sought  you  ! ' ' 

No  amount  of  words  could  ever  express  so  well 
the  love  which  united  them,  and  were  we  reduced 
to  this  single  proof  of  the  tenderness  of  Jesus  for 
His  foster-father,  it  would  exceed  even  all  that  we 
could  desire. 

.  .  .  "Your  father  and  I,"  said  Mary,  "we  were 
in  trouble,  and  we  do  not  understand  how  you,  the 
most  loving  of  sons,  have  thus  tortured  our  hearts.'^ 
And  He  in  answer,  with  His  sweet,  grave  smile: 
.  .  .  "Poor  dear  parents!  You  who  know  me  so 
well,  you  could,  then,  believe  in  my  wish  to  give 

1  Perhaps  the  hall  of  Gazith.  —  V.  Lightfoot,  Hor. 
hebraicae,  in  Lucam;  —  Kitto,  Cyclopaedia,  V,  Sanhedrim;  — 
Fillion,  ift  Lucam,  loc.  cit.;  —  Vr^\X€, Notre  Seigneur  Jesus- 
Christ,  etc. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  Ill 

you  pain  !  Did  you  not  know  that  if  I  left  you  for 
an  instant,  it  would  be  to  work  for  the  glory  of  my 
heavenly  Father?  Am  I  less  your  child  for  having 
placed  you,  for  the  moment,  second  to  my  Father 
who  is  your  Father,  and  my  God  who  is  your  God."^ 
And  to  prove  to  them  that  they  had  not  lost  any  of 
His  love.  He  went  down  with  them  at  once  to  Na- 
zareth, where  He  again  resumed  His  life  of  filial 
obedience  :  Et  erat  suhitus  illis.  ^ 

How  can  anyone  attribute  to  the  words  of  Jesus 
an  accent  of  severity,  almost  of  disdain,  while 
they  breathe,  on  the  contrary,  so  ardent  a  desire 
to  console  and  gladden? 

lyisten  to  Bossuet's  comment  on  the  words  of 
the  divine  Master:  "Did  you  not  know  that  I  must 
be  about  the  things  that  are  my  Father's?"  "Is  it 
that  He  disowns  Mary,  who  had  called  Joseph  His 
father?  Certainly  not;  but  He  recalls  to  them  the 
sweet  remembrance  of  His  true  Father  who  is  God, 

whose  will  should  engage  His  attention It 

was  the  will  of  His  father  that  He  should  then 
give  an  example  of  the  v/isdom  with  which  He  was 
filled,  and  which  He  came  to  declare,  and  of  the 
superiority  with  which  He  should  look  upon  His 
terrestial  parents,  without  regard  to  flesh  and  blood — 
their  master  by  right,  subject  to  them  by  dispen- 
sation."^ 

"And   they   understood  not  the   word  that   He 

1  John  XX.  17.  —  Cf.  Yen.  Bede,  S.  Boiiaventure,  S.  Ber. 
nard,  etc. 

2  lyuke,  II.  51. 

3  Bossuet,  VI.  Elevation  de  la  XX.  semaine. 


112  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

said  to  them."  Let  lis  not  limit  unseasonably  the 
text  of  the  Gos]3el.  It  was  said  not  only  of  Joseph, 
but  even  of  Mary  herself,  that  they  understood  not 
what  Jesus  wished  to  say.  Mary  understood,  with- 
out doubt,  what  He  said  of  God,  His  Father, 
since  the  angel  had  taught  her  this  mystery; 
what  she  did  not  understand  as  thoroughly  as  she 
should,  was  the  business  of  His  Father,  of  which 
He  spoke  ....  She  was  not  in  the  least  curious; 
she  dwelt  in  submission,  which  is  better  than  all 
knowledge  .  .  .  .^ 

Joseph  imitated  Mary  in  her  reserve  and  sub- 
mission: like  her,  he  was  content  to  look  on,  to 
meditate,  to  study  under  every  aspect  these  im- 
penetrable mysteries,  asking  of  God  to  unfold  them 
when  He  would,  aiid  as  much  as  He  would.  He 
knew  better  than  any  other  that  he  who  does  the 
will  of  the  heavenly  Father  advances  himself  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  teaching  of  the  Son.^ 

Meanwhile,  Jesus  having  emerged  from  child- 
hood, had  no  longer  need  of  the  same  protection; 
age  had  made  Him  a  man  remarkable  for  vigour 
and  beauty,  as  vv^e  are  told  by  the  ancient  Fathers. ^ 
Joseph's  task,  then,  was  accomplished,  and  he  also 
could  sing  his  Nunc  dimittis.  But  to  enter  into 
the  peace  of  death,  he  must  break  for  the  moment 
the  ties  of  an  unparalleled  affection,  and  sweet 
though  the  hope  was  of  meeting  again  iu  heaven, 

1  Id.  idid.,  VII.  Elevation. 

2  John  VII.  17. 

^  S.  Jerome,  S.  John  Chrysostom,  Nicephorus,  S.  John 
Damascene,  etc. 


the;  friendships  of  jesus.  113 

in  tlie  consummation  of  happiness  and  glory,  those 
whom  he  had  loved  here  below  in  sadness  and 
humiliation,  it  was  impossible  not  to  hesitate  be- 
fore the  sacrifice.  The  Apocryphal  Life  of  Joseph 
represents  him  trembling  and  lamenting  in  the 
terrors  of  agony,  like  to  many  other  blessed  whom 
God  had  tried  bitterly  at  the  last  hour,  to  complete 
their  purification  and  consummate  their  sanctity. 
It  is  a  pious  phantasy,  and  we  find  the  reality  but 
in  these  words  wherein  the  dying  man  salutes  the 
entry  of  Jesus:  "I  salute  Thee  many  times,  O  my 
beloved  Son !  Pain  and  the  fear  of  death  are 
already  upon  me,  but  as  soon  as  I  heard  Thy  voice 
my  soul  tasted  repose.  O  Jesus,  my  consoler! 
Jesus,  the  liberator  of  my  soul!  Jesus  my  pro- 
tector! Jesus,  whose  name  is  so  sweet  to  my 
mouth,  hearken  to  me.  Thy  servant  who  venerates 
Thee  in  all  humility,  and  who  shed  his  tears  before 
Thee,  my  Lord  and  my  God."^ 

The  Gospel  is  silent  on  the  last  moments  of  the 
just  man.  Why?  Bossuet  will  answer  us:  "If  it  is 
the  determination  of  the  eternal  Father  that  His 
Son  should  be  hidden  from  the  w^orld,  and  that 
Joseph  should  be  hidden  with  Him,  let  us  adore 
the  secrets  of  His  Providence  without  troubling 
ourselves  to  seek  their  solution."  ^ 

Yes,  it  was  the  ostensible  design  of  the  Father 
not  to  put  Joseph  forward,  except  in  so  far  as  the 
service  of  His  divine  Son  claimed  him:  and  Josepii 
was  himself  marvellously  adapted  for  this  design, 

1  Hist,  de  Joseph  le  charpentier,  ch.  XVI  et  XVII. 

2  Panegyrique  de  Sahit  Joseph^  III.  partie. 


114  '^^^  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

as  soon  as  he  knew  it,  and  as  long  as  he  had  been 
able  to  serve  Him.  Now  he  was  no  longer  of  nse, 
and  could  disappear  without  anyone's  notice,  ex- 
cept the  two  souls  whom  silence  and  estrangement 
had  so  closely  drawn  to  him.  For  their  consolation 
and  his  own,  he  had  the  assurance  of  the  day  when 
they  would  be  reunited  for  eternity.  But  if,  in  his 
humility,  he  dared  to  lay  claim  to  nothing  but  the 
joy  of  that  reunion,  the  angels,  charged  to  receive 
his  soul,  said  to  one  another  with  transports  of 
holy  jealousy:  "Ah,  certainly,  he  is  not  of  those 
who  have  received  their  recompense  in  this  world; 
that  is  why  he  shall  be  conspicuous  hereafter,  be- 
cause he  has  not  already  appeared  so;  he  shall  be 
resplendant  then  because  he  has  not  shone  in 
obscurity.  God  shall  repair  his  hidden  life,  and 
his  glory  shall  be  all  the  greater  because  it  has 
been  reserved  for  eternity."  ^ 

The  Arabian  author  of  the  History  of  Joseph 
the  Carpenter  —  an  old  legend  anterior  to  the 
fourth  century,  ^  makes  Our  I^ord  Jesus  Christ  say 
to  the  holy  patriarch  when  assisting  at  his  death- 
bed: "Whoever  shall  write  the  history  of  thy  life, 
of  thy  trials,  of  thy  separation  from  the  world,  and 
these  discourses  of  My  mouth,  him  will  I  confide  to 

1  Bossuet,  Panegyrique  de  Saint  Joseph,  III.  partie. 

2  G.  Wallin,  a  Swedish  scholar,  published  it  in  1722,  at 
Leipzic,  from  a  manuscript  in  the  royal  Library  at  Paris, 
Father  Isidore  de  Isolanis,  a  Dominican,  knew  of  it  and  men- 
tioned it  two  centuries  before  in  his  Summa  de  do7iis  S. 
Josephi.     There  seems  to  have  been  an  edition   in  Hebrew 

from  which  a  latin  translation  was  made  in  the  fourteenth 
century.     (V.  G.  Brunet,  Les  Evangiles  apocryphes.) 


THE  FRIICNBSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  II5 

tliy  keeping,  as  long  as  he  shall  dwell  in  this  life. 
When  his  soul  shall  leave  his  body  and  he  must 
quit  this  world,  I  will  burn  the  record  of  his  sins, 
and  I  will  inflict  no  punishment  on  him  in  the  day 
of  judgment,  but  he  shall  traverse  the  sea  of  fire 
and  shall  pass  over  it  v/ithout  pain  and  without 
hindrance."^ 

With  the  old  scribe  whose  footsteps  we  have 
followed  in  attempting  the  praises  of  Saint  Joseph, 
we  close  our  study  by  this  act  of  thanksgiving. 
^'Wlien  we  heard  these  words  of  Our  Saviour  we 
rejoiced,  and  gave  ourselves  up  to  gladness  and 
offered  all  glory  and  praise  to  Our  Ivord,  God,  and 
Redeemer,  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  are  due  honour, 
dominion,  gratitude,  and  thanks,  with  the  Father 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  now,  and  at  all  times,  for 
ever  and  ever."^    Amen. 


1  Op.  cit.  c.  XXVI. 

2  Op.  cit.  c.  XXXII. 


Chapter  III. 

The  Brothers  and  Sisters  of  Jesus=Christ. 

"And  His  brethren  James,  and  Jo- 
seph, and  Simon  and  Jude?    And  His 
sisters,  are  they  not  all  with  us?" 
Matt.  XIII,  55-56. 

The  principal  share  of  family  affection  obvious- 
ly belongs  to  the  father  and  mother,    as  to  the 
authors  of  the  life  whose  first  indication  is  a  smile, 
in  which  we  recognise  an  act  of  filial  love. 
^'Incipe,  parve  puer,  risu  cognoscere  matrem.''^ 

But  this  smile,  and  all  those  which  follow  from 
infancy  to  old  age,  seek  not  only  the  approbation 
of  the  mother;  a  share  is  also  reserved  for  those 
who,  born  of  the  same  parents  —  our  brothers  and 
sisters,  are  of  our  flesh  and  blood.  The  affection 
of  which  they  are  the  object  has  not  the  same 
character,  since  it  presupposes  neither  subordina- 
tion nor  deference,  but  rather  an  equality  which  is 
akin  to  true  friendship.  The  differences  of  age, 
whilst  assigning  a  kind  of  hierarchy  among  the 
children  of  the  same  father,  do  not  in  any  way 
diminish  the  great  law  of  resemblance  on  which 
a  life  of  affection  is  based.  This  is  why  a  special 
tenderness  generally  marks  the  relations  between 
brothers,   as    long    as   contradictory    interests    do 

*    Virgil,  Bucolics,  eclogue,  IV.    Ad  Pollionem. 

(ii6) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  II7 

not  intervene  to  cause  trouble,  which  but  too  often 
happens.  The  choice  which,  at  an  early  age, 
creates  intimacy  between  children  of  the  same 
family,  namely,  a  ]3articular  friendship,  does  not 
hinder  the  confidence  nor  the  devotion  by  which  all 
benefit.  Experience  also  teaches  us  that,  if  a 
friend  is  sometimes  preferable  to  a  brother,  ^  we 
more  frequently  find  in  our  brother,  the  most  lov- 
ing, the  most  faithful,  as  well  as  the  oldest  of  our 
friends.  The  wise  man,  in  extolling  friendship, 
justly  m.aintains  the  rights  of  brotherhood:  ''The 
brother  supported  by  his  brother  is  like  a  strong 
place;  their  agreement  resembles  the  bolts  which 
close  the  gates  of  a  city."  ^ 

The  Gospel,  which  manifests  Jesus  Christ  ful- 
filling- the  duties  of  filial  love  towards  His  mother 
and  foster-father,  cannot  do  so  as  regards  His 
fraternal  love,  since  the  only  Son  of  the  Eternal 
Father  was  also  the  only  Son  of  the  Most  Holy 
Virgin.  The  prophet  had  long  foretold  it :  the 
door  through  which  the  Prince  of  Peace  passed  on 
His  entrance  into  this  world,  should  remain  closed 
to  all  others,  3  and  all  tradition  repeats  it;  Mary,  a 
virgin  before  the  conception  of  the  Word,  a  virgin 
at  the   hour  of  the   divine  birth,  remains  a  virgin 

1  Prov.,  XVIII,  24:  "Vir  amabilis  ad  societatein  inagis 
amicus  erit  quam  f rater." 

2  Id,  ibid,  19:  "Frater  qui  adjuvatur  a  fratre  quasi  civitas 
firma:  et  judicia  quasi  vectes  urbium." 

3  Ezech.,  XLIV,  2:  "Porta  haec  clausa  erit:  nonaperietur 
et  vir  non  trausibit  per  earn.  Quoniam  Dominus  Deus  Israel 
ingressus  est  per  earn  ;  eritque  clausa  principi." 


IlS  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

for  ever.^  If  the  title  of  first-born  ^  given  to  Jesus 
has  deceived  certain  minds,  it  applies  only  in  reality 
to  the  fact  of  a  birth  which  no  other  preceeds, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  Israelites,  and  to 
the  special  consecration  which  made  the  first  child 
of  all  Jewish  women  the  gift  of  God.  ^  All  the 
commentaries  prejudicial  to  the  virginity  of  Mary 
are  based  on  a  false  interpretation  of  the  text,  — 
whether  the  error  arises  from  insuffiicent  know- 
ledge, or  is  caused  by  bias  against  the  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Nothing  is  easier  to  demonstrate,  even 
when  we  content  ourselves  with  only  the  testimony 
of  the  Gospel,  but  much  more  so  when  we  corrobo- 
rate that  testimony  by  tradition  and  history. 

The  four  Gospels  make  several  allusions  to  the 
brothers  and  sisters  of  the  Lord,^  with  a  simplicity 
which  leaves  no  doubt  of  the  impression  experi- 
enced by  the  sacred  writers  and  the  readers  to 
whom  their  books  were  addressed.  Evidently  they 
did  not  conceive  the  possibility  of  a  scandal,  still 
less  any  ambiguity.  What  they  say  was  known  to 
all,  intelligible  to  all,  acceptable  to  all.    How  then 

^  "Virgo  concepit,  virgo  peperit,  virgo  post  partum  illi- 
bata  permansit."  S.  Augustine  Sernio  13  hi  Natali  Domini: 
Virgo  concipiens,  virgo  pariens,  virgo  moriens." — Veu.  Bede, 
Exposit.  litter,  ad  Hebraeos,  c.  12. 

2  Matth.,  I,  25:  "Peperit  ^\\viXi\s\x\xm. priniogenitutn.'*'*  — 
Cf.  Lucian.  Daetnonax,  29;  —  Toldos  Jesc/tti  (a.p.  Waggen- 
seil,  11). 

^  Exod.,  XIII,  2:  "Sanctifica  mihi  omne  pritnogenitum 
quod  aperit  vulvam  in  filiis  Israel." 

4  Matth.,  XII,  46-47,  and  XIII,  55;  —  Mark,  III,  31-32. 
Luke  VIII,  19-20;  John  II,  12  and  VII,  3,  5,  and  10. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OI^  JESUS.  II9 

can  v/e  fail  to  conclude  immediately  that  there  was 
a  misunderstanding  on  the  part  of  those  who  pre- 
tend to  see  in  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  Jesus,  the 
children  of  the  Virgin  Mary? 

But  here  it  is  not  a  question  of  presumption, 
we  must  have  absolute  certainty.  That  is  why  we 
merely  mention  the  use  in  Scripture  of  the  word 
^'brother"  in  the  sense  of  "relation,  more  or  less 
close,"  ^  a  sense  which  however,  it  sometimes  has 
in  classical  antiquity  and  even  in  certain  modern 
languages.^  We  may  dismiss  secondary  consider- 
ations, since  we  have  an  abundance  of  proofs  of 
the  first  order. 

According  to  Saint  Matthew,  the  brothers  of 
Jesus  were  called  James,  Joseph,  Jude,  and  Simon. ^ 
But,  according  to  the  same  Saint  Matthew  ;  and 
Saint  Mark  —  James,  (surnamed  the  Less)  and 
Joseph  were  brothers,  ^  both  sons  of  the  wife  of 
Cleophas,  (one  of  the  Marys  whom  Saint  John 
makes  the  sister  of  the  Holy  Virgin).^  They  are 
then  only  the  cousins  of  Jesus,  and  consequently 
the  nephews  of  His  mother. 

According  to   Saint   I^uke  and  the   Acts^  and 

1  Genes.,  XIII,  8  and  11;  —  XIV,  14;  —  XX,  2  and  5;  — 
Num.,  XX,  14  etc. 

2  In  Spanish,  for  instance,  imitating  Greek  and  Latin. 

^  Matth  ,  XIII,  55;  "Et  fratres  ejus  Jacobus  et  Joseph, 
Simon  et  Judas." 

4  Matth.,  XXVII,  56  ;  —  Mark,  XV,   40. 

5  John  XIX,  25:   "Soror  matris  ejus,  Maria  Cleophae." 

6  Luke  VI,  16:  "Judam  Jacobi;"  —  Act.,  1,  13:  "Judas 
Jacobi." 


I20  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

what  is  still  better  —  according  to  himself,  Jude^ 
was  brother  of  James,  whom  Saint  Paul  mentions 
having  seen  at  Jerusalem,  and  whom  he  calls  the 
brother  of  the  I<ord.^  Now,  this  James  is  the  same 
apostle  who  is  called  the  Less  in  the  Gospel  of 
Saint  Mark,^  he  who  assisted  at  the  first  council ^ 
in  51,  and  who  died  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  in 
60  or  61.  Consequently,  Jude  and  James  the  Less, 
full  brothers  of  Joseph  and  Simon,  are  like  tliem, 
sons  of  Mary  Cleophas,  and  therefore  cannot  be  the 
sons  of  the  Most  Holy  Virgin  and  the  full  brothers 
of  Jesus.  As  regards  Simon,  the  fourth  of  the 
personages  mentioned  by  Saint  Matthew  v/e  know 
from  Hegisippus,^  a  historian  of  the  second  centu- 
ry, that  he  also  was  the  son  of  Cleophas,  and  hence, 
only  a  cousin  of  the  Saviour. 

*'The  demonstration,''  says  Le  Camus,  ''is 
conclusive.  We  must  not  then  be  astonished  if,  at 
the  last  hour,  Jesus  confides  His  mother  to  a  dis- 
ciple and  a  friend.  Mary  had  in  reality  no  other 
Son  than  He  who  died  on  the  cross.  She  would 
not  have  accepted  the  hospitality  of  an  adopted 
son  if  she  had  had  other  real  ones.  And  we  must 
not  say  that  Mary  went  to  the  house  of  John  be- 
cause the  brothers  of  Jesus  were   incredulous;  the 

1  Epist.  Cathol.,  1,  1:  **Judas,  Jesu  Christi  servus,  frater 
autem  Jacobi." 

2  Galat.,  1,  19:  "Apostolorum  vidi  neminem  nisijacobum 
fratrein  Domini." 

3  Mark,  XV,  40:  "Jacobi  Minoris." 

4  Acts,  XV,  13  and  following. 

5  Quoted  by  Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccl.,  Ill,  11;  —  IV,  22. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  121 

same  brothers  dwelt  beside  her  at  the  Cenacle,  and 
there  shared  her  faith  and  her  hopes."  ^ 

Influenced  by  the  Apocryphal  Gospels, ^  several 
ancient  authors,  and  even  Fathers  of  the  Chutch 
considered  the  sons  of  Mary  Cleophas  as  children 
born  to  Saint  Joseph  before  his  marriage  with  the 
Virgin.  Some  others  suppose  that  the  holy 
patriarch  married  the  widow  of  his  brother  Cleo- 
phas, in  conformity  with  the  law  of  the  levirat. 
Their  explanations,  which  rest  on  valueless  docu- 
ments or  are  gratuitous  suppositions,  are  related 
here  only  as  memoranda.  Unprejudiced  science  is 
constrained  to  admit,  first  of  all,  that  the  opinion 
which  attributes  to  Mary  other  children  beside 
Jesus,  goes  directly  against  the  unwavering  and 
universal  belief  of  the  Church.^  This  is  true  not 
only  of  the  Latin  Church,  (where  the  opinion  of 
Saint  Hilary  and  Saint  Ambrose  regarding  the 
pretended  children  of  Saint  Joseph  has  never  been 
accepted)  but  still  more  perhaps  of  the  Greek 
Church  (where  the  sentiments  of  Origen  and 
Eusebius  on  the  same  subject  have  never  pre- 
vailed). From  the  apostolic  times  Papias  had  laid 
the  foundations  of  Catholic  tradition,^  of  which 
Saint  Jerome  and  Saint  Augustine  became  the  later 

1  Le  Camus,  Vie  de  N-S.,  t.  1.  p.  168. 

-  Hist,  de  Joseph  le  charpentier,  11 :  —  Evangile  de 
Thomas.     XVI. 

2  Le  Camus:  L'CEuvre  des  Apbtres,  c.  VIII,  the  secoud 
note  on  page  296.  —  Cf.  Fouard,  Vie  de  N-S.,  t.  1,  appendix 
V.  —  Dumax,  Genealogie  de  N-S.,  p.  297  et  seqq. 

<     See  Migne,  Patrol.  Grceca,  t.  V,  p.  1261. 


122  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

apologists,  with  a  success  calculated  to  convince 
all  sincere  minds,  to  whatsoever  profession  they 
belonged.^ 

The  mother  of  James,  Joseph,  Jude,  and  Simon, 
was  called  Mary  like  her  august  relative ;  this  point 
does  not  admit  of  discussion.  It  is  not  quite  the 
same  regarding  the  name  of  her  husband  —  Cleo- 
phas,  according  to  Saint  John,-^  and  Alpheus  ac- 
cording to  the  three  other  Evangelists.^  But  this 
difficulty  is  only  apparent  since  "Cleophas''  and 
* 'Alpheus"  are  two  Greek  forms  of  tlie  same  Ara- 
maic name,  "Klophah",  pronounced  either  with 
or  without  the  as^^irate.  It  is  a  question,  then, 
of  one  and  the  same  man,  of  whom  tradition  tells 
us  that  he  was  the  younger  brother  of  Saint  Joseph,^ 
and  that  he  became  one  of  the  seventy- two  disciples 
of  the  Saviour.  Some  have  even  supposed  him  to 
be  one  of  the  guests  of  Kmmaus,  the  only  one 
whose  name  Saint  lyuke  has  given  us.^ 

Mary,  his  spouse,  sister  of  the  Holy  Virgin 
according  to  Saint  John,  could  not,  however,  be  the 
daughter  of  Anne  and  Joachim;  tradition  is  unani- 
mous on  this  point.     We   must  then  understand 

^    See  Smith,   Die.   of  the  Bible,   James;    —  Mill,  On 
Mythical  interpretation  of  the  Gospels,  p.  219  and  following. 
•   2    John  XIX;  25. 

3    Matth.,  X,  3;  —Mark,  III,  18;  —  Luke,  VI,  15. 

^     Hegisippus   ap.   Eusebium  Hist.  eccl.  lib..  Ill  c.  2. 

'"  Ivuke  XXIV,  18,  —  The  two  called  Cleophas  are,  how- 
ever, different:  the  disciple  of  Emmaus  was  martyred,  while 
the  brother  of  St.  Joseph  died  an  ordinary  death.  —  Cf. 
Holland.  26.  May  and  the  25.  September. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  1 23 

the  word  "sister''  as  we  have  already  understood 
the  word  "brother"  in  its  wider  sense,  —  that  of 
"sister-in-law"  for  instance,  in  conformity  with 
the  opinion  according  to  which,  Cleophas  would 
be  the  brother  of  Saint  Joseph.  Saint  Epiphanes, 
Saint  John  Chrysostom,  Saint  Jerome,  Eusebius, 
Theodoret,  Nicephorus,  follow  in  this  the  testi- 
mony of  Hegisippus,  which  takes  us  back  to  the 
time  of  the  apostles. 

To  Cleophas  and  Mary  were  born,  —  besides 
the  four  sons  named  by  Saint  Matthew,  —  proba- 
bly two  daughters,  whose  names  are  rather  difficult 
to.  determine.^  They  are  usually  called  Mary  and 
Salome,  the  latter  being  identified  with  the  mother 
of  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  John  the  Evangelist,  and 
James  the  Greater.^  It  is  of  them  that  the  Jews  of 
Capharnaum  speak  in  the  Gospel  of  Saint  Mark, 
when  alluding  to  the  family  of  Jesus:  "Are  not 
also  His  sisters  here  with  us?"^  They  are  then 
related  to  Our  Lord  in  the  second  degree,  and  were 
legally  His  first  cousins. 

We  have  thus  reconstructed  the  whole  sur- 
roundings of  Jesus  Christ  at  Nazareth.  Cleophas 
and  the  first  Mary  lived  near  Joseph  and  the  Most 

1  Nicephorus  (following  S.  Hippolytus)  calls  them  Esther 
and  Thamar.  —  S.  Epiphanus  fHaeres.  78)  and  Theophilac- 
tus  (In  Matth.,  XXVII)  prefer  the  names  of  Mary  and  Salome. 
This  is  also  the  opinion  of  Castro  (^de  Deipara,  c,  1.)  —  The 
apocryphal  History  of  Joseph  (c.  II)  calls  them  Assia  and 
Lydia. 

2  Matth.,  XX,  20;  —XXVII,  56;—  Mark,  XV,  40;  XVI,  1. 

3  Mark,  VI,  3:  "Nonne  et  sorores  ejus  hie  nobiscum 
sunt?" 


124  ""^HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

Holy  Virgin,  with  their  six  children,  four  sons  and 
two  daughters.  Three  of  their  sons  do  not  appear 
to  have  married,  James,  Jude,  and  Simon.  Re- 
garding this  latter  however,  it  is  an  open  question, 
since  grave  authors  seem  to  think  he  was  the 
bridegroom  of  Cana.  In  an^^  case,  there  still 
remiained  in  the  time  of  Domitian  distant  cousins 
of  Jesus,  whose  obscure  poverty  protected  them 
from  the  jealousy  of  the  tyrant,^  and  who  must 
have  been  descended  from  one  of  the  sons  of  Cleo- 
phas,  perhaps  from  Joseph  the  Just,  perhaps  also 
from  Salome.  At  all  events,  it  is  correct  to  say 
with  Dumax^  that  Saint  Simon  was  the  last  repre- 
sentative of  the  kinsfolk  of  the  Saviour,  and  that 
with  him  the  historical  notoriety  of  the  family  of 
David  disappeared. 

Of  the  two  daughters  of  Cleophas,  the  elder, 
Salome,  had  married  a  fisherman  of  Bethsaida 
named  Zebedee,  whom  tradition,  supplementing 
the  silence  of  the  Gospel,  places  among  the 
number  of  the  seventy-two  first  followers  of  the 
Messiah .  She  had  had  two  sons ,  James  surnamed  the 
Greater,  and  John  who  was  to  become  the  beloved 
disciple.  According  to  reliable  computations  these 
two  3^oung  men  should  have  been,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  evangelical  preaching,  nearly  of  the  same 
age  as  Jesus  Christ ;  for  James  was  born  about  the 
first  year  of  the  Christian  era,  and  his  brother  two 
years  later. ^     They  thus  naturally  enjoyed  a  greater 

1  Eusebius,  Hist,  eccl.,  Ill,  15,  32;  IV,  22. 

2  G^nealogie  de  N.  S.,  p.  305,  cit.  Cornel,  a  Lapide,  Calmet 
and  Glaire. 

2    Dumax;  op.  cit.,  p.  312. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  1 25 

familiarity  with  the  divine  Child,  and  were  subse- 
quently honoured  by  His  friendship  during  His 
public  life.  The  same  cause  explains  their  prompt 
adherence  to  the  new  prophet,  and  their  vocation 
to  the  apostolate  long  before  the  call  of  the  two 
sons  of  Cleophas. 

The  sister  of  Salome  is  scarcely  mentioned  in 
the  Gospel.  Saint  Matthew  speaks  of  her  twice, 
—  at  Calvary,  near  the  tomb,  —  at  the  door  of 
which  she  was  seated  with  Magdalen  on  Good 
Friday  evening,  and  was  there  again  from  dawn  on 
the  day  of  Resurrection.^  It  is  certainly  enough 
to  glorify  her,  but  not  enough  to  satisfy  us. 
Happily,  the  mystery  which  surrounds  her  has 
not  overshadowed  her  companions,  and  we  can, 
in  speaking  of  them,  place  her  in  a  setting  worthy 
of  her  fidelity  to  the  Master  and  of  the  affection 
with  which  He  repaid  her  devotion. 

The  relations  betwen  Jesus  and  His  family 
during  the  hidden  life  at  Nazareth,  can  be  surmis- 
ed from  the  frequent  allusions  in  the  Gospel  to 
their  subsequent  connection.  A  considerable  dif- 
ference in  age  separated  the  sons  of  Mary  from  the 
children  of  Cleophas.  Salome,  who  seems  to  have 
been  the  eldest,  was  eighteen  or  nineteen  years 
older  than  Jesus,  and  her  youngest  brother,  Joseph, 
was  born  ten  years  later  than  she,  so  that  he  was 
a  grown  man  when  his  cousin  had  scarcely  passed 
the  state  of  infancy.-'     To   judge  him  by  his  sons, 

1  Matth.,  XXVII,  61:  "Erantautem  ibi Maria  Magdalene 
et  altera  Maria,  sedentes  contra  sepulchrum;"  —  XXVIII,  1: 
"Venit  Maria  Magdalene  et  altera  Maria  videre sepulchrum." 

2  Dumax,  op.  cit.,  p.  308-312. 


126  THR  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Cleoplias  was  one  of  those  hard-headed,  inflexible 
Jews,  towards  whom  one  conld  scarcely  feel  drawn  : 
between  Joseph  and  him  fraternity  was  not  pro- 
ductive of  any  great  intimacy,  and  the  love  of  the 
Virgin  for  silence  and  retirement  accentuating  this 
fact,  the  two  families  remained,  no  doubt,  some- 
what apart,  meeting  only  when  compelled  by  the 
necessities  of  life  and  conventionalities  of  relation- 
ship. 

Omnipotent  wisdom  willed  that  it  should  be  so, 
in  order  that  the  Saviour  might  not  seem  to  have 
drawn  the  inspiration  of  His  new  doctrine  from  the 
l^rejudices  or  interests  of  His  family.  We  have 
already  seen  how  little  He  valued  flesh  and  blood 
when  there  was  question  of  His  heavenly  Father's 
service;  we  shall  see  it  more  clearly  still  when  we 
study  the  formation  of  the  Apostolic  College.  But 
henceforth  we  may  remark  it :  the  grouping  of  the 
apostles  is  characteristic  in  this  respect.  Three 
divisions,  clearly  defined,^  may  be  noticed  in  this 
assembly  —  men  alike  in  appearance,  in  character, 
in  will  and  mission  —  each  division  consisting  of 
four  persons  drawn  together  by  design,  and  in  an 
order  which  clearly  manifests  a  preference. 

To  the  first  section  belong  Peter,  Andrew, 
James  the  Greater,  and   John, — the  first  called, 

—  all  four  from  Bethsaida,  of  whom  two  only, 
the  last  named,  are  relations  of  Jesus.  These 
are  the  privileged  few,  of  that  there  can  be  no 
doubt,   but    by  reason  of    their    faith    and  not  of 

1     Matth.,  X  2-4 ;  —  Mark  III,  16-19  ;  —  Luke,  VI,  14-16; 

—  Act.  Apost,  I,  13. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  1 27 

their  relationship  to  Him,  which  He  did  not  con- 
sider in  James  and  his  brother. 

The  second  group  comprises  Philip,  Matthew, 
Batholomew,  and  Thomas,^  tmited  only  by  the  tie 
of  their  common  faith,  and  as  much  strangers  to 
the  Master  as  .they  were  to  each  other.  To  the 
third  group  finally,  —  the  least  noble,  we  might 
almost  say,  —  belong  James  the  I^ess,  Jude,  and 
Simon,  three  first  cousins  of  the  Saviour,  who 
had  for  their  colleague  the  man  of  Kerioth,  the 
traitor  Judas. ^  One  hesitates  to  think  so,  but  it 
seems  as  if  Christ  would  teach  us  to  mistrust  all 
family  influence,  and  treated  it  as  bordering  on 
inconsistency  or  even  trea.son,  to  accentuate  the 
lesson.  The  priest  according  to  the  order  of 
Melchisedech^  has  no  family  ;  the  apostle  even 
less,  in  the  sense  that  he  must  give  his  relatives 
no  consideration  when  he  hears  the  call  of  souls. 
Woe  to  the  priest  or  apostle  who  delays  the  Holy 
Spirit,  were  it  even  to  render  the  last  honours  to 
his  father.  *  Has  he  not  the  stern  command  ? 
"Follow  me,   and  let  the  dead  bury  the  dead."''* 

Before  they  were  called  to  the  honour  of  the 
apostolate,     the    sons    of    Cleophas    had    shown 

*  The  order  varies  in  this  series,  according  to  the  Evan- 
gelists, but  the  elements  of  the  grouping  are  the  same,  and 
Saint  Philip  always  holds  the  first  place. 

2  Matth.,  X,  4;  —  Mark,  III,  19;  —  I^uke,  VI,  18. 

3  Psalm  CIX,  4.  —  **Sacerdos secundum  ordinem 

Melchisedech." 

4  Matth.,  VIII,  21;  —  Luke,  IX,  59. 

^  Matth.,  ibid,  22:  "Sequere  me  et  dimittemortuos  sepe- 
lire  mortuos." 


128  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

hostility  to  the  mission  of  Jesus:  "They  did  not 
believe  in  Him,"^  says  the  Gospel,  and  they 
reproached  Him  for  not  manifesting  Himself  to 
the  Jews  and  to  the  world. ^  But  Jesus  was  pur- 
posely reserved,  as  the  reply  which  He  made  to 
them  at  the  time  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles 
witnesses  when  they  departed  for  Jerusalem.^  The 
attachment  of  these  Jews  of  the  old  stamp  to  the  rab- 
binical traditions  explains  their  coldness,  and  also 
their  desire  to  have  a  guarantee  of  the  mission  of 
Jesus.  Simon  alone  is  designated  in  the  Gospel  of 
Saint  Luke  by  the  epithet  of  "zealot;"'^  but  James, 
Jude,  and  Joseph,  if  they  did  not  openly  belong  to 
the  same  society,  did  not  share  the  less  in  the 
opinion  of  their  brother,  with  an  inveterate  dislike 
to  all  changes,  especially  to  those  of  a  radical 
character.  They  were  of  the  race  of  Nathaniel, 
that  good  Israelite  in  whom  there  was  no  guile.  ^ 
In  spite  of  their  waywardness,  faith  brought  about 
the  enlightenment  and  transformation  of  their 
souls :  such  stubborn  people  had  all  that  was 
required  to  give  to  Truth  apostles  and  martyrs. 

The  remark  of  Saint  John  relative  to  their 
incredulity,  carries  us  back  to  a  precise  date,  that 

1  John,  VII,  5  :  "Neque  enim  fratres  ejus  credebaiit  in 
enm." 

2  Id.,  VII,  3-4:   "Transi  liinc  et  vade  in  Judeam 

mauifesta  te  ipsum  mundo." 

3  John  VII,  8:  "Go  you  up  to  this  festival  day:  but  I  go 
not  up  to  this  festival  day;  because  my  time  is  not  yet  ful- 
filled." 

^     lyuke,  VI,  15:  "vSimon  qui  vocatur  Zelotes," 

5    John  1,  47:  "Bonus  israelita  in  quo  dolus  non  est." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  12g 

of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  on  the  9th  of  October, 
in  the  33rd  year  of  Christ.^  The  Master  had  then 
not  more  than  seven  months  to  live,  and  never- 
theless, He  still  met  with  resistance  in  the  souls  of 
His  nearest  relatives,  who  had  been  His  apostles 
for  more  than  a  year.  Doubtless,  we  should  not 
take  the  expressions  of  the  Evangelist  in  their 
strict  sense,  which  would  imply  a  kind  of  contra- 
diction; but  they  show  little  enthusiasm  and  devot- 
edness  in  the  docility  of  the  sons  of  Alpheus. 
The  victory  of  divine  I^ove  over  them  could  only 
be  the  more  striking,  and  we  cannot  read  without 
emotion  the  reply  of  Simon  to  the  observation  of 
Jesus  when  leaving  the  guest-chamber,  to  go  to 
meet  Judas.  —  ''I^ord,  here  are  two  swords!"  2 
The  Zealot  is  v/holly  subdued  at  this  moment,  and 
his  natural  impetuosity  prompts  him  to  defend, 
with  the  sword,  Him  whom  he  had  so  long  doubt- 
ed ;  but  he  is  not  alone  in  this  disposition,  which 
is  shared  by  Jam.es,  the  austere  observer  of  tradi- 
tion, and  Jude,  a  man  of  quick  intelligence  and 
generous  heart.^  Indeed  Jude  seems  to  have 
cherished,  even  to  the  end,  the  idea  of  a  terrestial 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  as  his  words  at  the  close 
of  the  I^ast  Supper  testify; ^  but   his  persistence  in 

1  Chevallier,  Recits  evangeliques,  p.  299. 

2  Ivuke,  XXII,  38:  "Domine,  ecce  duogladii  hie." 

2  Saint  James  remained  faithful  to  mosaic  traditions  till 
his  death,  and  Saint  Jude  is  surnamed  Thaddeus,  for  his 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart. 

4  John,  XIV,  22:  "Lord,  how  is  it  that  Thou  wilt  manifest 
Thyself  to  us,  and  not  to  the  vv'orld?" 


130  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

an  illusion  which  he  and  his  coUeagnes  had  so 
long  treasured,  lessens  in  no  way  his  fidelity  and 
devotion. 

Joseph  is  not  united  with  his  brothers  in  the 
honour  of  the  apostolate,  but  tradition  has  never 
hesitated  in  placing  him  among  the  number  of  the 
disciples.  Many  have  even  supposed  him  to  be 
the  Justus  Barsabas  who,  according  to  the  Acts,^ 
was  the  candidate  for  election  with  Matthias,  in 
the  Cenacle.  This  conjecture  is  not  perhaps  con- 
vincing, but  it  is  none  the  less  honourable  to  the 
last  son  of  Cleophas,  whose  age  some  have  thought 
was  the  sole  hindrance  to  his  being  chosen  at  first. 

In  any  case,  the  brothers  of  Jesus  ended  by 
placing  themselves  among  His  followers,  and  the 
Apostolic  character  had  honoured  their  adhesion 
even  before  it  became  irreproachable.  The  affec- 
tion of  the  Master  for  those  of  His  family  did  not 
blind  Him,  but  disposed  Him  to  an  indulgence 
which  is  above  reproach,  more  especially  when 
mindful  of  His  prophetic  knowledge  of  hearts  and 
His  foreknowledge  of  the  future.  If  He  had  seen 
Nathaniel  iinder  the  shadow  of  the  fig  tree,  where 
he  hid  from  prying  eyes,^  much  more  had  He  long 
l^efore  penetrated  the  secrets  of  these  souls  vowed  to 
His  love  and  service  by  the  common  ties  of  blood, 
faith,  and  virtue. 

At   the   time  of    their  vocation,  Jesus   paired 

1  Act.  Apost.  I,  23:  —  Saint  Jude  is  also  called  Barsabas 
in  the  Acts  (XV,  22)  which  suggests  the  thought  that  this 
name  was  common  to  the  sons  of  Alpheus. 

2  John,  I,  48:  "Cum  esses  sub  ficu,  vidi  te.'' 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  131 

tlieiii,  if  we  may  so  speak,  as  He  had  the  other 
apostles  whom  He  sent  before  Him,  two  and  two,^ 
and  —  even  as  He  had  united  the  brothers  Andrew 
and  Peter,  James  the  Greater  and  John  —  He 
appointed  James  the  L,ess  the  companion  of  Jnde. 
Simon  conld  not  be  paired  with  Joseph,  because 
the  latter  did  not  belong  to  the  twelve,  and  his 
companion  was  the  man  of  Kerioth,  usually  called 
Judas,  to  distinguish  him  from  the  cousin  of  the 
Lord.  Those  who  take  delight  in  subtle  research 
find  perhaps,  a  singular  propriety  in  this  partner- 
ship of  the  traitor  and  the  zealot.  Did  not  the 
Master  wish  thus  to  give  a  somewhat  suspicious 
attendant  to  this  servant  who  was  already  suspected 
by  several  in  the  apostolic  college?  And  who 
could  be  better  suited  for  this  office?  The  charac- 
ter of  Simon  was  calculated  to  inspire  Judas  with 
a  certain  confidence,  since  both  hoped  for  the 
terrestial  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  —  and  at  the 
same  time  would  keep  him  in  check  by  the  almost 
violent  ardour  which  so  easily  led  him  astray. 
More  than  once,  without  doubt,  the  loyalty  of  the 
Galilean  made  the  crafty  Jew  reflect,  and  if  the 
traitor  had  been,  at  Gethsemani,  as  near  to  the 
zealot  as  Malchus  was  to  the  other  Simon,  the 
second  sword  brought  from  the  Guest-chamber 
would  probably  have  chastised  him  with  a  surer 
and  more  vigorous  aim. 

Jude  and  Simon  do  not  appear  to  have  been  the 
objects   of   an}^  special   affection,   either  before    or 

1     Mark,  VI,  7;  —  I.uke,  X,  1. 


132  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

after  the  Resurrection.  It  was  not  thus  with  James 
the  lyess,  to  whom  was  vouchsafed  one  of  the  first 
apparitions  of  the  Vanquisher  of  Death. ^  Tradi- 
tion insinuates  that  he  was  constituted  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem  by  the  L^ord  Himself. ^  In  any  case,  we 
find  him  already  holding  the  first  place  after 
Peter,  in  the  meeting  which  regulated  the  position 
in  the  Church,  of  the  neophytes  converted  from 
Paganism.^  From  this  time  he  takes  a  leading 
part  in  early  Christian  history,  at  least  on 
subjects  relating  to  Judea  and  the  Holy  City. 
Held  in  an  esteem  seldom  accorded  by  the  Jews 
themselves,  according  to  ancient  writers,^  he  was 
almost  as  much  venerated  by  the  Christians  on 
account  of  his  knowledge,  his  wisdom,  his 
moderation,  and  his  austerity.  His  name  became 
an  epithet  of  distinction  for  his  brothers  and 
his  mother.  In  Saint  I^uke,  Jude  is  simply  the 
brother  of  James  ;^  in  Saint  Matthew  and  Saint 
Mark,  the  spouse  of  Cleophas  is  called  Mary, 
the  Mother  of  James  the  I^ess  ;  ^  in  Saint  Paul 
he  is,  par  excellence,  the    brother  of    the    Lord.^ 

1  1  Cor.,  X  5,  7:  "Deinde  visus  est  Jacobo." 

2  Petrus  de  Natalibus,  Catalog:  Sanctorum. 
"    Act.  Apost.,  XV,  13-21. 

^  Josephus,  Hegisippus,  Abdias  etc. — Cf.  Petrus  de  Nata- 
libus (^Catalogus  Sanctorum^  et  Barouius,  Annates  —  Doubt, 
less,  he  owed  this  veneration,  to  his  zeal  for  all  mosaic 
observances  of  which  he  was  ever  the  faithful  observer  and 
jealous  defender.     fCf.  Fouard,  Saint  Paut,  c.  III). 

s    Luke,  VI,  16:  "Judam  Jacobi." 

6  Matth.,  XXVII,  56:  "Maria  Jacobi  et  Joseph  mater."  — 
Mark,  XV,  40:  "Maria  Jacobi  Minoris  et  Joseph  mater." 

7  1  Cor.  XV,  7;  —  Galat.,  1,  19. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  1 33 

Saint  Jude  himself,  immediately  after  his  title 
of  "servant  of  Jesus  Christ,"  takes  that  of  brother 
of  James}  We  have  a  letter  of  his  to  the  con- 
verted Jews,  the  first  of  seven  Catholic  Epistles. 
It  was  written  in  Greek,  abouttheyear  60,  with  the 
object  of  warning  the  faithful  against  the  doctrine 
of  the  Simonites,  Nicolaites,  and  the  first  Agnostics. 
"Without  proceeding  as  Saint  Paul  did,  by  reason- 
ing and  with  method,  Saint  James  enunciated 
his  ideas  as  they  came  to  his  mind,  either  by 
maxim  or  assertion,  without  seeking  to  connect 
them  with  or  deduce  them  from  the  same  prin- 
ciple, expressing  them  in  a  simple  style  at  once 
forcible  and  elevated,  embellishing  them  with 
happy  antitheses,  graceful  images,  and  rounded 
periods.  He  exhorts  first  to  patience,  reveals 
the  author  of  all  wisdom,  points  out  the  -vanity 
of  this  world's  goods  and  the  chastisements  which 
await  the  rich.  He  wishes  to  deter  the  faith- 
ful from  the  vain  love  of  profane  knowledge, 
from  the  ambition  of  j^ower,  and  exhorts  them 
to  the  practice  of  the  imperative  duties  of  charity 
and  justice.  To  disabuse  those  who  applied  to 
the  new  law  the  barrenness  of  the  works  of  the 
old,  he  showed  by  a  comparison  of  the  soul 
animating  the  body,  that  faith  without  works  is 
dead.  Finally  he  gives  rules  full  of  great  wisdom 
for  all  states  of  life."  ^ 

1     Epist.  Cath.  B.  Judae,    1  "J^das,  Jesu  Christi    servus, 
frater  autem  Jacobi." 

-     Arnaud,  Preface  de  Vepitre  de  S.Jacques.  — Cf.  Calmet, 
Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible. 


134  'I'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

The  persecution  of  the  year  42,  in  bringing 
about  the  dispersion  of  the  apostles,  left  him 
alone  in  Jerusalem,  under  the  eyes  of  Herod- 
Agrippa  and  the  High  Priest,  Matthias-ben 
-Hannah,  ^  brother-in-law  of  Caiphas.  To  the 
blood  of  James  the  Greater,  the  favourite  of 
Caligula  and  Claudius  would  have  willingly  added 
that  of  the  brother  of  the  Lord,  fully  sure  that 
by  so  doing  he  would  please  the  Jews  ^  and  their 
pontiffs.  But  Providence  watched  over  the 
Bishop,  and  the  crown  of  martyrdom  was  not 
granted  to  him  till  twenty  years  later,  in  the 
reign  of  the  second  Agrippa,  when  the  prefect 
Albinus  was  on  his  way  from  Alexandria  to 
Csesarea,  whither  he  was  coming  to  take  the 
place  of  Porcius  Festus.  Profiting  by  the  absence 
of  the  king  and  the  governor,  the  High-Priest 
Ananias  stirred  up  a  popular  sedition  against  the 
Christians,  seized  the  old  apostle,^  dragged  him  to 
the  Temple,  and  forced  him  to  address  the  mul- 
titude from  the  top  of  a  portico  from  which  he 
had  him  thrown  down  when  he  was  heard  pro- 
claiming the  divinity  of  Jesus.  Shattered  by  the 
fall,  but  still  living,  James  tried  to  get  upon  his 
knees  to  pray,  like  Saint  Stephen,  for  his  exe- 
cutioners, when  a  fuller  ended  his  life  by  a  blow 
on  the  head. 

1  Third  son  of  Anne,  and  brother  of  Jonathan,  of  Theo- 
philus,  and  of  Ananus,  who  were  also  high  priests. 

2  Act.  Apost.,  XII,  3:  "Videns  autem  quia  placeret 
Judaeis. ' ' 

3  He  was  then  eighty-six  years  of  age.  ( The  Roman 
Martyrology  says  ninety-six  ;  but  this  is  probably  an  error.  — 
Cf.  Dumax,  op.  cit..,  p.  310.) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  135 

The  horror  of  this  crime  dismayed  all  those 
who  still  retained  a  vestige  of  humanity  and 
patriotism,  and  Josephus  interprets  the  general 
feeling,  when  he  attributes  the  misfortunes  of 
Jerusalem  to  the  death  of  the  martyr.  Albinus 
was  intensely  irritated  at  the  audacity  of  Ananias, 
and  the  king,  no  less  disgusted  at  this  crime, 
took  away,  three  months  later,  the  High  Priest- 
hood from  the  assassin,  and  gave  it  to  Jesus-bar- 
Damneus.^  Simon  replaced  his  brother  on  the 
episcopal  throne,  whence  he  was  driven  for  ever 
by  the  siege  to  which  the  city  and  sanctuary 
finally  succumbed. ^ 

He  then  fled  to  Egypt, ^  where  he  took  refuge, 
and  preached  the  Gospel  in  the  north  of  Africa. 
If  we  can  credit  Dorotheus  and  Nicephorus,^  he 
crossed  the  sea,  traversed  Gaul,  and  brought  the 
good  tidings  even  to  Great  Britain,  but  these 
testimonies  cannot  be  accepted  without  reserve. 
According  to  Abdias,^  whom  Pope  Gelasius  places 

1  Josephus.  Antiq.  Jud.,XX,  VIII.  —  Cf.  Origen.,  (r(?«/m 
Cels.,  lib.  1. 

2  This  opiuiou  is  not  in  conformity  with  the  Roman  Mar- 
tyrology  which  makes  Saint  Simon  return  to  Jerusalem,  to 
suffer  martyrdom,  in  the  reign  of  Trajan  (107  or  109)  at  the 
age  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  years.  He  would  seem  to  have 
been  crucified  by  order  of  the  judge  Atticus.  {Nicephorus,  op. 
cit.)  —  Perhaps  the  difference  of  opinion  arises  from  a  con- 
fusion betwen  Simon  the  Zealot  and  Simeon,  another  relative 
of  our  lyord.     CCf.  Dumax,  op.  cit.') 

^    Martyrol.  rom.  ad  28.  Octob. 

^    Dorotheus,  Synopsis  etc.  —  Nicephorus,  Hist,  eccles. 
^    Abdias,  Bishop  of   Babylon,  wrote   a  History  of  the 
Apostles, 


136  THE  I^RIENDSHTPS  OK  JESUS. 

among  the  Apocryphal  writers,  but  in  whose 
writings  Baronius  found  some  interesting  docu- 
ments, Simon  the  Zealot  succeeded  in  rejoining  his 
brother  Jude  in  Persia,  who  had  come  thither 
through  Mesopotamia  from  Idumea  and  Arabia.^ 
They  united  their  efforts  against  the  sun-wor- 
shippers, whose  fury  soon  burst  iipon  them.  The  two 
apostles  were  put  to  death  at  Suanyr,  the  sStli 
October  of  the  year  107,  in  the  reign  of  Trajan.^ 

Of  the  four  sons  of  Cleophas,  two  bear  his- 
torically the  surname  of  Just,  —  James, '^  and 
Joseph,''  but  v/ith  a  very  different  renown.  The 
first  is  illustrious  among  the  apostles,  the 
second  remains  almost  unknown  among  the  dis- 
^ciples.  All  that  we  know  of  him  is  that  he 
preached  in  Judea  with  success,  and  died  there, 
after  having  suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  the 
Jev/s.  Some  ancient  writers  make  him  Bishop 
of  Eleutheropolis,  the  old  Bethogabra,^  on  the 
frontiers  of  the  country  of  the  Philistines,  fifty 
five  miles  to  the  south-west  of  Jerusalem.  He 
had  taken  poison,  administered  by  the  hands  of 
his    perfidious    enemies,  but    without    feeling    its 

1  According  to  the  Greeks  and  Armenians. 

2  Eusebius  {Hist,  eccles.)  gives  the  age  of  Simon  as  one 
hundred  and  twenty.  —  According  to  the  calculation  of  Dumax 
{op.  ciL,  p.  312),  Jude  would  have  been  a  hundred  and 
twenty  one. 

3  Eusebius,  Hist.,  II,  2. 

^  Act.  Apost.,  I,  23:  "Joseph  vvuo  was  called  Barsabas, 
surnamed  the  just ! " 

^  Others  say  Geth :  at  the  present  day  Beit-Jibrin,  a 
village  of  fifty  houses. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  137 

effects,  fnliilliiig  the  promise  of  the  Master. ^  He 
was  thus  a  martyr  —  thiough  not  to  death  —  like 
John  the  Evangelist,  whose  sweet  disposition  and 
discreet  apostolate  he  seems  to  have  enjoyed. 

Cleophas  had  preceded  his  sons  in  death. 
He  died  at  Capharnaum,  about  the  year  40,  in 
the  same  obscurity  which  had  overshadowed  all 
his  life.^  It  only  remains  then  for  us  to  speak 
of  Mary,  the  spouse  to  whom  his  name  owes 
the  little  historic  glory  with  which  it  is  clothed. 
If  we  do  not  find  her  in  company  with  the  holy 
women  who  followed  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  this 
should  be  the  place  to  speak  of  her  :  the  mother 
ought  to  be  found  near  her  sons,  were  it  but  to 
give  to  our  sketch  the  finishing  touch,  which 
will  perfect  the  resemblance.  We  have  judged 
them  in  the  beginning  in  relation  to  their  father, 
a  Jew  of  the  old  stamp,  somewdiat  severe  and  ill- 
disposed  to  what  he  called  the  innovations  of 
the  Gospel.  But  they  are  not  altogether  like 
Alpheus  ;  tlie  image  of  Mary  is  equally  and  even 
more  plainly  visible  in  them,  at  least  in  the 
second  stage  of  their  existence,  and  in  the  latter 
part  of  their  lives.      As  usual,   it  is  the  maternal 

1  Mark,  XVI,  18:  "If  they  shall  drink  any  deadly  thing, 
it  shall  not  hurt  them." 

2  The  Bollandists  give  the  date  28.  May,  and  make  him 
father  of  the  apostles  James  and  BTatthew.  There  is  evidently 
some  confusion  here.  Matthew  vi^as  the  son  of  Alpheus 
(Mark  II,  14),  but  not  of  him  whom  tradition  makes  the 
brother  of  Saint  Joseph.  Tradition  supports  the  opinion  of 
the  Bollandists  regarding  Saint  James,  but  it  is  now  aban- 
doned by  Hagiographers. 


138  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

influence  that  strikes  the  balance;  it  is  the  mother 
who  determines  their  vocation  and  their  place 
in  history.  We  surmise  without  much  effort 
that  she  had  gained  her  children  over  to  the 
conviction  with  which  she  herself  was  penetrated; 
she  had  been  their  initiator  into  the  new  life  to 
which  she  had  long  desired  to  bring  them.  Her 
tender  affection  for  the  Virgin-Mother  had  natur- 
ally drawn  her  to  the  divine  Child,  and  when  the 
hour  came  for  the  preaching  of  the  Messiah,  it  found 
her  fully  prepared  for  the  faith  and  apostolate. 
The  Gospel  also  takes  care  to  distinguish  between 
her  and  her  sons,  whose  incredulity  could  not  be 
a  reproach  to  her,  —  quite  the  contrary,  since  it 
was  by  her  influence  that  they  were  soon  to  be 
in  the  ranks  of  the  first  disciples  and  martyrs. 

When  they  became  members  of  the  Apostolic 
College,  her  tresses  were  already  white,  although 
she  was  still  far  from  the  term  of  her  earthly 
pilgrimage.  We  are  uncertain  of  her  age,  but 
she  was  much  older  than  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
since  her  eldest  daughter,  Salome,  was  born 
seven  years  before  Mary,  and  Joseph,  her  youngest 
son  ten  years  before  Jesus  Christ.^  She  was, 
therefore,  at  that  time,  a  companion  and  assistant, 
better  still,  a  discreet  confidante  specially  destined 
for  the  Mother  of  the  Saviour  after  the  death  of 
Saint  Joseph;  then  during  the  three  years  of  His 
public     Life,     and    finally,    after    the    Ascension, 

1  Dumax,  Ghiealogie  de  N.-S.  J-C,  p.  312.  —  Cf.  M. 
Maxiini  Chronicon  (^Addition.  Braulionis  et  Hellecae:  ad. 
aun.  16  et  17.) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  1 39 

until  the  time  when  the  hatred  of  the  Jews 
drove  her  to  adopt  Gaul  as  her  second  country. 
But  it  was  especially,  on  Calvary  that  she  had  her 
rightful  place  beside  her  august  relative,  if  not  as 
her  consoler,  since  the  new  Rachel  would  not  be 
consoled,  at  least  as  the  friend  most  capable  of 
sympathising  in  her  unutterable  sorrow.  We 
find  her,  in  fact,  beside  the  cross, ^  in  the  first 
rank  of  those  pious  women  whose  devotion  could 
not  be  shaken,  while  the  courage  of  the  apostles 
wavered.  She  sustained  Mary  in  her  arms  when 
overcome  by  exhaustion,  aided  her  gently  to  render 
the  last  duties  to  the  Crucified,  and  spent  with  her, 
in  prayer  and  tears,  the  time  which  intervened 
until  the  Resurrection. 

Tradition  presents  her  to  us  again  at  Jaffa, 
in  the  disabled  vessel  to  which  the  Jews  had 
committed  Martha,  Magdalen,  Salome,  Sara  and 
Marcella,  with  lyazarus  and  several  other  disciples 
of  Jesus.  In  confiding  to  the  sea  the  task  of 
suppressing  their  antagonists,  the  friends  of 
the  Synagogue  thought  perhaps  that  their  hands 
would  remain  stainless  before  the  Lord,  since  they 
had  not  shed  blood. 2  The  casuistry  of  the  Rabbins 
recognised  such  absolution,  and  moreover,  was  it 
not  zeal  for  the  law  that  had  inspired  their 
vengeance?^     But   He  whom  the   winds  and    the 

1  John,  XIX,  25:  "Stahatantem  fux^a  crucem /esu  mater 
ejus,  Maria  Cleophae  et  Maria  Magdalene." 

'^  Deuter.,  XXI,  7-9:  "Manus  nostrae  non  effuderunt 
sanguiuena,  nee  oculi  viderunt  ....  Et  auferetur  ab  eis  rea- 
tiis  sanguinis." 

3  I  Macch.,  II,  27  :  "Omnis  qui  zelum  habet  legis,  etc." 
Act.  XIII.  45:  "Judaei  repleti  sunt  zelo,  etc." 


I40  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS  . 

sea  obey/  quietly  carried  the  barque  over  the 
reefs "^  on  which  it  would  have  foundered,  and 
landed  these  living  relics  of  His  heart  on  the 
shores  of  Provence.^ 

The  reader  will  perhaps  be  surprised  at  net 
finding  any  hesitation  in  our  story  at  the  point  to 
which  we  [have  conducted  him.  The  coming  to 
Provence  of  the  friends  of  Jesus  Christ  was,  in  the 
seventh  century,  the  object  of  heated  discussions, 
the  echo  of  which  is  prolonged  even  to  our  own 
times.  We  should  not  be  justified  in  associating 
the  first  adversaries  of  tradition  —  avowed  Janse- 
nists  —  with  the  more  recent  disputants,  excellent 
Catholics,  and  distinguished  by  a  learning  far 
suiDcrior  to  that  of  John  de  Launoy  and  Adrian 
Baillet.  But  if  there  is  a  great  difference  between 
the  men,  there  is  not  much  between  their  theories, 
at  least  substantially.  It  is  always  the  same 
difficulty  arising  from  the  absence  of  positive 
docum^ents  before  a  certain  period,  or  the  doubtful 
authenticity  of  the  documents  produced,  for  since 
Launoy's  time  proofs  have  come  to  light,  the 
absence  of  which,  he  said,  gave  strength  to  his 
arguments,  and  the  testimony  of  v/hich,  modern 
Vv^riters  say,  shows  the  weakness  of  the  thesis  they 
would  corroborate. 

1  Mark,  IV,  40  :  "Ventus  et  mare  obediunt  ei." 

2  The  port  of  Jaffa  is  closed  by  a  belt  of  reefs,  always 
difficult  to  cross,  particularly  in  a  rough  sea,  whether  coming 
from  the  open  sea  or  leaving  land.  The  ancients  had 
already  described  this  coast:  "INIalefida  cnriuis." 

3  Lacordaire,  Sainte  Madeleifie,  Introduction. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  141 

Criticism  lias  removed  tlie  mask  of  erudition 
from  Launoy  (who  succeeded  for  a  time  in  shaking 
the  strongest  minds,  such  as  the  authors  of  the 
Gallia  Christiana, ^  and  those  of  the  Acta  Sancto- 
rum). 2  It  clearly  points  out  the  more  or  less 
voluntary  errors,  the  confusion,  and  the  contra- 
dictions which  emanate  from  the  writings  of  the 
Norman  Doctor.  In  1848,  the  Abbe  Faillon,  in 
his  Monuments  Inedites,  furnishes  the  elements  of 
a  correction  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  deny  the 
effect  on  the  public  mind,  and  which  seems  de- 
cisive to  the  most  competent  men.^  After  him 
others  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of  Provengal 
traditions,  so  brilliantly  used  by  Lacordaire  in  his 
masterpiece  of  piety  and  eloquence  known  by  the 
name  of  "Sainte  Marie-Madeleine."  At  the  same 
time  there  was  a  general  movement  of  return  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Apostolic  origin  of  Christianity 
in  Gaul,  and  one  of  the  first  results  of  this  was  the 
confirination  of  the  tradition  relating  to  the  friends 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  both  sides  can  be 
maintained,  and  those  opposed  to  the  evangelisa- 
tion of  Provence  by  I^azarus  and  Magdalen  are  also 
opposed  to  the  Apostolic  origin  of  our  Churches. 
The  question  was  already  proposed  in  this  way  in 

^  v.,  In  their  first  tome,  the  curious  contradictions  into 
v*7hich  they  were  drawn,  on, this  question,  by  the  evident  in- 
fluence of  Launoy. 

2  v.,  in  the  Bollandists,  the  mouth  of  August,  on  22nd 
and  on  26th. 

"  Monum.  inedits  sur  Vapostolat  de  sainte  Madeleine  e7i 
Provence,  etc.;  Paris,  Migne. 


142  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JEvSUS. 

the  seveiiteentli  century,  and  Natalis  Alexander^ 
was  right  in  closely  connecting  together  in  his 
reply  to  I^aunoy,  his  two  dissertations  on  the 
foundations  of  the  first  episcopal  sees  of  the  Gauls, ^ 
and  on  the  coming  of  Saints  Martha  and  Magdalen 
to  Aix  and  Marseilles.^  In  our  own  time  the  same 
effort  is  still  made,  and  —  what  seems  strange  — 
after  so  much  experience,  so  many  results  achieved, 
it  is  maintained  on  the  same  conditions  —  that  is 
to  say,  with  the  same  arguments,  the  value  of 
which,  notwithstanding,  has  not  been  augmented 
by  time.  There  is  always  a  desire  to  prove  that 
our  Church  does  not  go  back  to  apostolic  times,  in 
spite  of  the  tradition  confirmed  by  the  Fathers* 
and  which  Bossuet  sanctioned  by  his  powerful 
eloquence  when  he  said:  ^ 'After  Rome,  and  through 
her,  all  the  Occident  has  come  over  to  Jesus  Christ, 
and  we  have  come  to  Him  among  the  first;  the 
lyord  prompted  Saint  Peter  and  his  successors  to 
send  us,  from  the  earliest  times,  the  Bishops  wdio 
have  founded  our  Churches."^  Would  one  not 
say  that  the  great  orator  had  in  view  the  letter  of 
the  Prankish  Bishops  written  to  Saint  Radegonde: 
"It  is  with  the  pioneers  of  the  Catholic  Religion 

^     Natal.  Alexander,  Hist,  ecclesiast.,  t.  HI. 

2  'D\ss€:riaX.  YNl.  De  praedicationis  evangelicae  in  Galliis 
exordio. 

"^  Dissertat.  XVII.  De  B.  Mariae  Magdalenae,  Lazari  et 
Marthae  in  Galliis  appulsu. 

4  Saint  Cyprian,  Saint  Epiphanus,  Saint  Irenaeus,  Ter- 
tullian,  Theodoret,  Eusebius,  Saint  Isidore,  etc. 

^  ^ossvL^t,  L'tmite  de  PEglise.  —  Cf.  Id.,  HisL  univers. 
cit.  Tertulliau,  Advsrs  .Jitdaeos,  c.  10. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  143 

that  the  first  manifestations  of  the  faith  in  Gaul 
are  connected."^  Those  who  hold  the  opposite 
opinion  have  not  coincided  in  this,  and  trace  back 
to  the  third  century  only,  the  names  of  those 
frequently  found  in  the  records  of  the  first.  The 
consequence  evidently  appears  to  be  that  he  who 
was  raised  from  the  dead  at  Bethany  is  no  longer 
the  first  Bishop  of  Marseilles,  that  the  holy  Marys 
are  not  the  Apostles  of  Camargue,  or  that  Saint 
Magdalen  is  not  the  penitent  of  Saint  Baume. 

Indeed  the  simplest  of  readers  is  a  little  dis- 
concerted by  the  inexplicable  oblivion  to  which 
they  see  consigned,  in  the  preoccupations  of  the 
Apostles,  the  fairest  parts  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
above  all  this  Provence  to  which  Marseilles 
attracted  the  wits  of  Rome  and  Athens.  Tliey 
would  rather  believe  with  Saints  Isidore  and  Irae- 
neus,  in  the  immediate  evangelisation  of  Gaul,^ 
because  common  sense  here  agrees  with  tradition 
and  existing  monuments. 

We  cannot  involve  the  reader  in  the  examina- 
tion of  objections,  more  or  less  questionable,  which 
encumber  the  way  we  traverse.  We  shall  have 
occasion,  in  speaking  of  the  hosts  of  Jesus  at 
Bethany,  to  study  some  of  them,  but  it  would  need 
more  than  one  volume,  and  that  of  the  largest,  to 
refute  the  attacks,  in  which  some  happy  remarks 

^  **Cum  ipso  catholicae  religionis  exortu  caepissent, 
gallicanis  in  finibus,  venerandae  fidei  primordia  respirare." 
(Greg.  Tur.,  I.  IX;. 

2  S.  Isidor.,  De  ortu  et  obitu  patrimi.  —  S.  Iren.,  Adv, 
Haeres.,  I.  10. 


144  "^^^  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

are  lost  in  an  ocean  of  quibbles,  which  for  the 
most  part  have  not  even  the  merit  of  being 
original. 

Are  they  even  more  ingenious  when  they  deny 
that  Provengal  writers  are  wanting  in  critical 
acumen,  and  consequently  in  the  judgment  neces- 
sary to  the  right  appreciation  of  documents?  Was 
the  Abbe  Faillon,  though  Provencal,  denied  the 
possesion  of  it,  — as  some  have  alleged,  and  has  he 
thereby  been  wanting  in  it  as  much  as  has  been 
pretended?  We  are  permitted  to  doubt  it,  espec- 
ially after  having  studied  the  arguments  opposed 
to  the  thesis  of  the  regretted  Sulpician.  For  our 
part  we  do  doubt  it,  and  whatever  leanings  the 
Friar  Preachers  may  be  reproached  with  towards 
the  Saints  of  Provence,  we  remain  faithful  to  the 
tradition  of  which  our  Order  had  constituted  itself 
the  defender,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  after 
having  been  its  custodian  for  four  hundred  years. 
We  shall  never  believe  that  all  our  Fathers,  with- 
out exception,  were  the  dupes  or  accomplices  of 
the  improbable  error  to  which  we  owe  what  is 
called  the  legend  of  Saint  Magdalen.  History 
assigns  them  another  character,  and  gives  us 
another  conviction.  We  claim  for  ourselves  the 
liberty  which  others  take, — respecting  upright 
intentions,  acknowledged  learning,  and  services 
rendered,  —  but  demanding  the  same  justice,  if 
not  for  ourselves  and  our  personal  work,  at  least 
for  the  men  and  the  works  whose  traces  we  have 
followed,  and  whose  heritage  we  have  received. 

Il^et  us  return  now  to  our  story  and  rejoin  the 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  1 45 

friends  of  the  Saviour  on  the  sandy  beach  where 
we  have  seen  them  disembark. 

The  little  band  separated  without  delay, 
lyazarus,  with  his  sisters  and  Marcella,  took  the 
road  to  Marseilles,  leaving  Trophimius  at  Aries 
and  delegating  Maximin  to  Aix.  Mary  remained 
in  the  Camargue  with  Salome  her  daughter,  and 
Sara  their  servant,  living  in  contemplation,  that  is 
to  say  in  meditating  on  the  great  memories  brought 
from  the  Holy  Land,  and  on  the  prophecies 
accomplished  on  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple.  For 
the  news  was,  doubtless,  brought  to  them  of  the 
latest  violence  of  the  Jews  against  the  faithful,  and 
of  the  vengeance  which  God  had  taken  by  the 
hands  of  Vespasian  and  Titus. ^  The  fishermen 
who  stayed  sometimes  on  this  shore,  received  from 
them  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel,  and  diffused  it 
along  the  coasts,  in  the  direction  of  Marseilles  to 
the  East,  and  of  Agde  towards  the  West.  Several 
years  passed,  after  which  Mary  of  Cleophas  gave 
her  soul  to  God,  not  without  having  received  the 
Viaticum  from  the  hands  of  Trophimius,  surrounded 
by  Christians  assembled  from  all  sides  to  assist  at 
her  last  moments.  The  body  was  buried  with 
great  respect  near  the  oratory  where  she  was 
accustomed  to  gather  her  neophytes  together,  and 
to  the  fountain  which  a  miracle,  it  is  said,  had 
caused  to  gush  forth  from  the  sand,  at  the  time  of 
her  arrival  in  Provence.'-^ 

^  We  know,  in  fact,  that  the  holy  friends  of  Jesus  lived 
more  than  thirty  years  after  their  arrival  in  Gaul,  which 
brings  us  to  a  date  subsequent  to  the  siege  of  Jerusalem. 

2    The  spring  still  exists,  in  the  nave  of  the  basilica. 


146  'THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

Some  months  later,  Salome  rejoined  her  mother 
in  the  tomb,  surrounded  by  the  same  sad  feeling 
of  the  faithful  of  the  country.  Scarcely  asleep  in 
death,  the  two  holy  friends  of  the  Saviour  became 
the  patrons  of  nascent  Christianity,  and  from 
generation  to  generation,  even  to  our  days,  this 
cult  is  maintained  in  its  primitive  fervour.  Pil- 
grims visit  each  day  the  basilica  raised  over  their 
Sepulchre  by  the  second  king  of  Aries  —  William, 
son  of  Boson,  and  grand-nephew  of  Charlemagne.^ 
Twice  a  year,  on  the  25th  May  and  the  22nd 
October,^  but  more  especially  on  the  first  date, 
crowds  invade  the  church  of  the  holy  Marys  of  the 
Sea,  with  demonstrations  of  enthusiasm  which 
defy  all  description.  When  the  reliquary  is 
brought  down  from  the  chapel  where  it  is 
usually  kept,  the  enthusiasm  amounts  almost  to 
delirium,  and  whilst  the  crowd  gathered  on  the 
sea  shore  receives  the  blessing  v/hicli  the  officiating 
priest  gives  them  with  a  fragment  of  the  relics,  a 
vigorous  clamour  is  raised,  which  forcibly  recalls 
the  hosannas  of  the  entry  into  Jerusalem.^  Then, 
when  the  celebration  is  over,  and  the  relics 
restored  to  their  former  place,  tears  and  sobs 
mingle  with  thanksgiving  and  blessing.  What 
are  the  equivocal  manifestations  which  surround 
those  whom  the  world  calls  glorious  and  powerful, 

^     Towards  the  end  of  the  tenth  century  (981). 

2  On  the  25th  May,  the  feast  of  Saint  Mary  the  mother 
of  James  is  kept,  and  on  the  22nd  October  that  of  Mary 
Salome. 

2  lyamoureux,  Manuel  pour  le  pMerinage  des  Saintes 
Maries,  p.  51.  —  Cf.  Mistral,  Mireio,  c.  X— XII. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  147 

in  comparison  with  these  truly  popular  triumphs? 
Salome  asked  for  her  two  sons  a  place  at  the  right 
and  the  left  of  the  Saviour:  could  she  then  foresee 
that  on  both  sides  of  the  Master,  piety  would  one 
day  salute,  not  only  the  sons,  but  even  their 
mother  and  their  grandmother?  ^  Happy  women, 
the  solemnity  of  whose  feast  gives  joy  not  only  to 
men  but  to  the  angels,  and  even  to  the  Son  of  God, 
on  the  throne  to  which  ascend  the  hymns  that 
celebrate  their  memory !  -  Let  us  unite  in  this 
concert,  and  repeat  with  the  pilgrims  of  Provence 
the  salutation  of  the  Holy  Marys. 

*'Hail,  illustrious  mother  of  James  the  Less! 
Hail,  venerated  mother  of  James  the  Greater! 
Hail  to  both,  whom  the  ties  of  blood  united  so 
closely  to  our  Redeemer!  Bring  us  in  your  foot- 
steps towards  the  Kingdom  of  eternal  light !  ^ 

1  "Sanctae  Matres  et  filii  —  Faxint  lie  simus  reprobi,  — 
Dies  magna  cum  venerit,  — Judexque  summus  aderit,"  says 
an  ancient  hymn  in  their  office. 

2  "De  quarum  solemnitate  gaudent  Angeli  et  collaudant 
Filium  Dei."     (Introit  of  the  Mass  of  the  Saint  MarysJ. 

2  "Salve,  mater  iuclyta  Jacobi  Miuoris  !  Ave,  parens 
optima  Jacobi  Majoris  !  Utraque  matertera  uostri  Redemptoris, 
nos  ad  regna  supera  trahite  splendoris  !  .  .  .  .  (Salutation  to 
the  relics  when  being  carried  from  the  upper  chapel.) 


Chapter  IV. 

Zachary  and   Elizabeth. 

"Aud  they  were  both  just  before 
God,  walking  in  all  the  Command- 
ments and  justification  of  the  Lord 
without  blame." 

The  Gospel  scarcely  speaks  of  the  kinsfolk  of 
Jesus  Christ,  but  seems  rather  to  consign  them  to 
the  obscurity  from  which  it  had  drawn  them  for  a 
time.  Whence  it  is  that  some  commentators  are 
at  pains  to  remove  the  obscurity  which  surrounds 
them,  as  in  the  case  of  the  sister  of  Mary  and  the 
brothers  of  the  lyord.  It  is  quite  the  contrary 
when  there  is  question  of  the  friendships  of  the 
Master,  and  this  perplexes  those  who  do  not  see 
the  underlying  reason,  and  who  are,  perhaps, 
shocked  at  the  anomaly. 

This  is  not  the  time  for  explanation,  but 
we  may  now  recall  the  fact  that  the  Good  Tidings 
did  not  at  first  find  willing  listeners  among  those 
most  closely  related  to  Jesus,  in  whose  estimation 
fidelity  to  their  divine  vocation  was  of  greater 
worth  than  all  the  ties  of  family:  "Whosoever 
shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father,  who  is  in  heaven, 
he  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother!'^  ^  His 
friendships  were  formed  principally  in  correspond- 
ence with  the  designs  which  He  Himself  served; 

1    Matth.,  XII.  48—50:   "Qui  sunt  Fratres  mei.,  etc.'* 

(148) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  149 

in  this  sense  a  friend  was  more  precious  to  Him 
than  a  brother,  in  accordance  with  the  rule  laid 
down  by  the  Holy  Spirit, ^  If,  however,  nature 
and  grace  united  in  appealing  to  His  preference, 
we  have  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  it  was 
assured.  Had  not  those  whom  He  specially 
designed  for  His  immediate  circle,  a  particular 
right  to  His  first  thoughts,  and  eventually  to  a 
participation  in  His  trials  and  glory?  This  con- 
stant law  of  His  life  was  applied,  long  before  His 
birth,  to  the  mother  whose  flesh  and  blood  He  was 
to  assume  —  and,  if  we  may  so  speak,  whose  mind 
and  heart  also  —  at  the  moment  of  His  comiug 
into  the  world.  He  loved  already,  through  Mary, 
those  whom  He  loved  in  later  years,  on  account  of 
their  innocence  or  their  penitence. 

At  the  first  step  that  He  takes  in  mortal  life, 
still  hidden  in  Mary's  bosom,  but  already  sharing 
in  our  humanity,  He  shall  meet  two  souls  well 
calculated  to  please  Him,  those  named  immediately 
after  Joseph  in  the  Gospel,  and  whose  attractions 
we  shall  strive  not  to  change. 

When  David  in  his  old  age  made  the  eldest  of 
the  sons  that  he  had  had  by  Bethsabee,^  king,  he 
convoked  a  solemn  assembly  of  the  Princes  and 
Priests  in  order  to  recommend  his  son  to  them, 
and.  to  make  sure  of  the  execution  of  the  plans 
which  he  himself  was  unable  to  realize.  The  first 
of  these,  and  the  one  most  dear  to  his  heart,  that 
which  he  confided  with  most  regret  to  the  care  of 

^     Prov.,  XIII.  24:  "Magis  amicus  erit  quam  frater." 
2    II.  Reg.  XU.  24 ;  —  I.  Paralip.,  III.  5. 


150  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Solomon,  was  the  building  of  the  Temple,  where 
the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  borne  for  many  years 
through  Palestine  and  Idumea,  should  be  deposited. 
What  he  had  already  done  in  collecting  workmen 
and  gathering  material  was  beyond  all  praise. 
God  having  taken  away  from  him  all  hope  of 
using  them,  he  wished  at  least  to  render  an  account 
of  his  efforts,  to  stimulate  the  zeal  of  his  heir,  and 
to  obviate  some  of  the  difficulties  which  he  had  to 
fear.^  One,  and  not  the  least  of  these,  was  the 
great  number  of  levites,  and  among  them  sons  of 
Aaron,  who  had  multiplied  beyond  all  expectation. 
Not  counting  the  priests,  they  formed  a  veritable 
tribe,  on  which  it  became  necessary  to  impose 
regulations  hitherto  unthought  of  to  insure  order 
and  peace. 

Aaron  had  four  sons,  of  whom  the  two  oldest, 
Nadab  and  Abiu,  died  unfortunately  in  the  desert, 
without  leaving  any  posterity.^  The  two  last, 
Eleazar  and  Ithamar,  had,  on  the  contrary,  en- 
gendered two  races, ^  whose  chiefs  were,  at  the  end 
of  David's  reign,  Sadoc,  who  had  aided  in  the 
elevation  of  Solomon,  and  Abiathar,  recently  com- 
promised in  the  adventure  of  Adonias.*  These 
two  great  races  rivalled  each  other  in  nobility  and 
pretensions,  but  differed  greatly  in  number.  The 
sons  of  Eleazar  formed  sixteen  families  under  the 
leadership  of  Sadoc ;  those  of  Ithamar  counted  only 

1  I.  Paralip.,  XXII.  2  and  following. 

^  lyevitic,  X.  1—3. 

3  I.  Paralip.,  XXIV.  1—3. 

*  III.  Reg.,  1.  9.  and  following. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  151 

eight,  under  the  direction  of  Abiathar.  The  wis- 
dom of  David  so  arranged  matters  as  to  prevent 
all  complaints. 

To  the  twenty-four  thousand  levites, — chanters, 
musicians,  guards,  door-keepers  —  destined  for  the 
service  of  the  Temple,  he  proposed  the  twenty- 
four  sacerdotal  families  who  should,  each  in  its 
turn,  offer  the  various  sacrifices  commanded  by  the 
Law.  So  as  not  to  give  any  excuse  for  jealousy, 
which  he  had  cause  to  fear,  the  order  in  v/hich 
the  sixteen  families  of  Eleazar  and  the  eight  of 
Ithamar  should  offer  sacrifice,  he  determined  by 
lot.  The  names  of  the  chiefs  of  each  family  were 
thrown  into  an  urn  and  drawn  by  chance:^  the 
first  name  drawn  was  that  of  Joarib,  whose 
posterity  happily  survived  the  trials  of  captivity  ;2 
and  after  having,  it  is  said,  engendered  the 
Machabees,^  was  to  give  birth  to  the  historian  of 
the  last  days  of  Jerusalem.'^ 

Abias,  a  descendant  of  Eleazar,  obtained  the 
eighth  place.  Less  fortunate  than  the  preceding, 
his  race  did  not  return  from  Babylon  with  Zoro- 
babel,  and  when  it  was  necessary  to  reorganise,  in 
the  second  Temple,  the  service  established  by 
David,  they  were  obliged  to  give  the  name  which 
they  had  formerly  borne  to  one  of  the  newly- 
formed  groups.  The  four  families  brought  back 
from  exile  ^  were  each  divided  into  five  sections,  in 

^  I.  Paralip.,  XXIV.  5—18. 

2  II.  Esdras,  XI.  5—10. 

»  I.  Macch.  II.  1. 

*  Josephus  (Vita,  I)  glories  in  belonging  to  this  family. 

*  Cf.  Esdras,  loc.  cit. 


152  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OI^  JESUS. 

order  to  reconstruct  the  ancient  series,  with  the 
same  names  as  they  had  formerly  borne. ^  The 
memory  of  Abias  was  thus  revived,  but  his 
descendants  did  not  rise  with  it,  and  certain  com- 
mentators have  been  mistaken  in  saying  of  his 
house  what  only  applies  to  his  course,  according 
to  Saint  Luke  and  the  Septuagint.^ 

But,  in  the  days  of  King  Herod,  this  course 
had  among  the  number  of  its  representatives  a 
l^riest  named  Zachary,  a  man  just  before  the  Lord 
and  respected  by  his  brothers  in  the  sacerdotal 
office,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  position  he  held  in 
the  sacred  functions.  In  fact,  the  greater  number 
of  the  priests  had,  by  little  and  little,  lowered 
their  dignity,  and  many  of  them  lived  in  misery 
and  ignorance,  removed  from  office,  and  deprived 
of  all  prestige.  A  few  only,  of  more  noble  birth 
and  more  refined  education,  —  carefully  examined 
by  the  Sanhedrin,  "judge  of  the  priesthood,'^ 
which  had  found  them  "without  stain,"  —  were 
admitted  to  the  honour  of  crossing  the  threshold  of 
the  sanctuary,  and  of  mounting  the  altar  steps. 
From  the  Gospel  narrative  we  may  conclude  that 
Zachary  was  one  of  the  latter  class;  this  opinion  is 
confirmed  by  tradition,  which  assigns  to  him  a 
noble  origin  and  an  alliance  with  the  family  of 
David,  by  his  spouse  Elizabeth. 

A  daughter  of  Aaron, ^  and  consequently  con- 

1  Josephus,  Antiq.,  VII,  XV.  7.  —  Cf.  Robiusou  The 
Evangelist  and  the  Mishna. 

2  Ivuke  1.5:  '''E^  icprifxepias'A^Ld''.  Cf.  LXX.  (I.  Paralip. 
XXIII.  6  etc.) 

3  Luke  1.  5.  "De  filiabus  Aaron." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  153 

nected  with  what  we  may  call  the  great  levitical 
nobility,  Elizabeth  equally  belonged  to  the  royal 
race  of  David,  by  her  mother  Sobeh,^  a  daughter 
of  Mathan-ten-Eleazar,  direct  descendant  of  the 
prophet-king.^  She  had,  then,  brought  to  her 
husband  the  double  lustre  which  belonged  to  her 
birth,  at  once  royal  and  pontifical,  thus  making 
him  conspicuous  in  an  atmosphere  where  respect 
for  ancient  lineage  still  survived.  In  truth,  the 
promotion  of  the  Beni-Phabis  and  the  Beni- 
Kamiths  to  the  holy  office  of  the  priesthood  was 
no  proof  of  any  great  respect  for  the  family  of 
Aaron;  there  remained,  none  the  less,  in  the  sacer- 
dotal caste  traditions  to  which  were  strongly  bound 
influences  which  it  was  by  no  means  a  matter  of 
indifference  to  have  at  its  service.  Zachary  could 
not  but  benefit  by  them,  and  however  unambitious 
we  may  suppose  him,  he  had  reason  to  thank 
Providence  for  having  united  his  destiny  to  that  of 
Elizabeth. 

But  that  for  which  he  thanked  God  most  was 
the  great  virtue  of  his  spouse  —  the  admirable 
woman  whom  the  Gospel  associates  with  him  in 
praise  and  blessing.^  Both  walked  together  in  the 
ways  of  justice,  with  all  the  more  merit  that  they 
saw  around  them  nothing  but  arrogance  and 
indolence,  cunning  and  violence,  among  the  very 
priests   themselves    and    even    in    the    Temple    of 

1  Cornel,  a  Lapide,  in  Lticam,  III.  23  (quoting  Christ. 
de  Castro,  De  Deipara,  c.  I.) 

2  Matth.  1.  15. 

2     lyuke,  1.  6:  "And  they  were  both  just  before  God.'* 


154  ^^^^  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

Jehovah.  The  fall  from  their  past  greatness,  the 
trials  which  beset  Israel,  the  depressing  outlook  of 
the  future,  had  in  no  way  lessened  their  confidence 
in  God,  nor  the  fidelity  which  they  had  vowed  to 
Him.  True  children  of  Abraham,  they  waited 
patiently,  praying  that  they  might  see  the  mani- 
festation of  the  Messiah-Redeemer,  whose  coming 
seemed  near  at  hand.  With  the  aged  Simeon  and 
the  prophetess  Anna,  whom  they  often  met  in  the 
vestibule  of  the  Temple,  they  were  persuaded  in 
their  hearts  that  they  should  not  die  until  they 
had  .seen  the  Christ.^ 

A  great  sadness  was,  nevertheless,  hidden  in 
their  souls.  They  had  no  child,  and  their  age, 
which  was  advanced,  seemed  to  preclude  all  hope 
of  one.  Not  that  they  were  very  old,  as  has  been 
supposed  without  sufficient  reason,  since  Zachary 
had  not  yet  reached  his  fiftieth  year,  after  which 
limit  the  priests  were  not  admitted  to  active  service 
in  the  sanctuary  ;2  but  the  long  sterility  of 
Elizabeth  would  admit  of  no  illusion,  and  as  it 
happens  to  those  whose  days  are  passed  in  sadness, 
they  themselves  felt,  and  appeared  to  others  much 
older  than  those  of  their  own  age.^ 

Joy  rejuvenates ;  sadness,  on  the  contrary, 
blights  before  their  time  youth,  beauty,  strength, — 
like  those  winds  whose  breath  strips,  bends,  and 
mutilates   the    vigorous    branches,    till    in   a    few 

'     Ivuke  11.  25—39. 

2  Num.,  VIII.  25:  "Cumque  quinquagesimum  annum 
impleverint,  servire  cessabunt." 

3  Luke  1.  7  and  18. 


I'HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  1 55 

moments  they  resemble  the  venerable  remains  of 
the  forest.  The  author  of  all  life  and  of  all  fruit- 
fulness,  He  who  had  given  Isaac  to  Sara  in  her 
old  age,  Samson  and  Samuel  to  the  mourning 
spouses  of  Manue  and  Elcana,  could  not  reject 
their  prayers  for  ever.  The  longer  their  expecta- 
tion had  been,  the  greater  would  be  the  happiness 
it  should  bring  them. 

They  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Holy  City, 
and  according  to  a  tradition  which  seems  to 
support  the  sacred  text,^  between  Jerusalem  and 
Bethsames,  at  a  place  called  Ain-Karim,-  the 
Fountain  of  Vmes,  on  account  of  the  sweet  waters 
that  ran  along  its  vine-clad  slopes.  Twice  a  year, 
when  the  honour  of  representing  the  priesthood  of 
Israel  came  to  the  course  of  Abia,  Zachary  went 
up  to  the  Temple  where  he  remained  during  the 
customary  eight  days,  leaving  Elizabeth  to  her  sad 
thoughts,  but  with  a  longing  desire  to  rejoin  her 
in  the  solitude  v/hich  they  both  loved.  One  day, 
when  he  was  ofSciating,  his  lot  having  assigned 
him  the  most  noble  of  the  sacerdotal  duties,  which 
consisted  in  offering  incense  on  the  altar  erected  in 

1  Joshua,  XXI.  8— 16:  "Dederuntque  filii  Israel  Levitis 
civitates  et  suburbana  eorum  .  .  .  .  et  Am  et  leta  et  Beth 
sames." 

2  Karem,  according  to  the  supposition  of  Isambert 
(Palestine,  p.  345  quoting  Joshua,  XV.  60).  Ain-Karim  still 
produces  excellent  wine.  At  the  present  day  some  Palestin- 
ologists  resuming  the  hypothesis  of  Reland,  fix  the  abode  of 
Zachary  at  Yutta,  which  would  be  the  ciiy  of  Juda  of  Saint 
Ivuke,  1,  39.     We  follow  here  Gnerin  and  Ivievin. 


156  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

the  holy  place  ;  ^  holding  in  his  hands  the  golden 
panied  by  the  priest  who  carried  the  lighted  char- 
coal in  a  silver  dish,  and  a  levite  in  charge  of  a 
mixture  cunningly  composed  of  amber,  galbanum, 
storax,  and  incense,^  by  the  family  of  Attinas.^ 
The  priest  placed  the  charcoal  on  the  altar;  the 
levite  presented  his  little  case  to  the  sacrificer, 
who  spread  the  perfume  on  the  embers,  and 
remained  alone,  absorbed  in  prayer,  while  the 
fragrant  cloud  rose  to  heaven.^ 

A  curtain  of  hyacinth  and  purple  hid  him  from 
the  eyes  of  the  people  in  whose  name  he  prayed. 
Only  a  few  moments  usually  elapsed  between  the 
offering  of  the  incense  and  the  blessing  which  the 
sacrificer  gave  to  the  assistants,  before  they  left 
the  vestibule  of  Israel.'^  But  this  time  their 
expectation  was  prolonged;  anxiety  gained  upon 
them  at  the  thought  of  some  mysterious  accident, 
such  as  they  might  always  fear  in  tlie  vicinity  of 
Jehovah,  when  Zachary  appeared,  his  face  pale, 
his  gait  unsteady,  his  lips  mute.  By  signs,  and  in 
writing,  he  explained  why  he  was  unable  to  bless 
the  assemblage:  an  angel  of  the  Lord  had  just 
appeared  to  him  and  struck  him  dumb.  But  he 
had  no  cause  to  be  frightened;  quite  the  contrary, 
a    great   joy   had   been   announced   to   him   as   an 

1  The  duties  were  drawn  by  lot.  The  offering  of  incense 
came  in  the  third  rank. 

2  Exod.  XXX.  34—36. 

^    Edersheim,  The  Temple,  134. 

^  Lightfoot,  Hor.  hebraic,  in  Evang.  Lucae,  1.  9.  —  Cf. 
Tamid,  III.  1. 

5    Num.,  VI.  24. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  1 57 

earnest  of  one  still  greater  to  come,  in  which 
Israel  and  all  the  world  who  awaited  the  coming 
of  the  Redeemer  would  rejoice. 

The  instant  the  priest  and  levite  deputed  to 
assist  the  High  Priest  left  the  Holy  of  Holies,  an 
angel  suddenly  appeared  on  the  right  side  of  the 
altar.  Zachary  trembled  at  the  apparition  and 
terror  took  possession  of  his  soul.  No  doubt  he 
then  recalled  the  axiom  sanctioned  by  the  ex- 
perience of  the  ancients,  that  no  one  could  see  God 
and  live.i  And  it  was  through  the  angels  that 
God  usually  deigned  to  manifest  Himself  to  those 
whom  He  honoured  by  His  vision.^  But  the 
heavenly  messenger  began  at  once  to  speak.  "Fear 
not,  Zachary,  for  thy  prayer  is  heard:  and  thy 
wife  Elizabeth  shall  bear  thee  a  son;  and  thou 
shalt  call  his  name  John;  and  thou  slialt  have  joy 
and  gladness,  and  many  shall  rejoice  at  his  birth: 
for  he  shall  be  great  before  the  I^ord,  and  shall 
drink  no  wine  nor  strong  drink;  and  he  shall  be 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  even  from  his  mother's 
womb:  and  he  shall  convert  many  of  the  children 
of  Israel  to  the  Lord  their  God.  And  he  shall  go 
before  Him  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Klias,  that 
he  may  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the 
children,  and  the  incredulous  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
just,  to  prepare  for  the  Lord  a  perfect  people.^  " 

As  the  harmonious  tones  of  the  angel's  voice 
fell  upon  his  ear,  Zachary  became  reassured.     The 

1  Judic,  VI.  22—25  etc. 

2  Genes.  XVIII.  1—3.  —  Isai.  VI.  5  etc. 

3  I,uke,  I.  13—18. 


158  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

angel  reiiiaiiied  at  the  right  side  of  the  altar,  and 
this  favourable  omen  was  confirmed  by  the  promise 
of  joy  so  long  deferred.  The  child  to  be  born 
should  be  called  John,  that  is  to  say.  The  Lord 
cjracioiisly  gave.  His  birth  would  be  the  presage 
of  a  happiness  in  which  several  should  participate, 
many  even  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  through 
the  mystery  which  enveloped  the  rest  of  the 
prophecy,  the  happy  father  foresaw  a  supreme 
gladness,  the  salvation  of  his  people  and  the 
inauguration  of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth. 

But  such  a  happiness  could  not  but  perplex 
him:  Zachary  doubted.  "Whereby  shall  I  know 
this?  for  I  am  an  old  man,  and  my  wife  is  ad- 
vanced in  years.  And  the  Angel  ansv/ering,  said 
to  him :  I  am  Gabriel  who  stand  before  God,  and 
am  sent  to  speak  to  thee,  and  to  bring  these  good 
tidings.  And,  behold,  thou  shalt  be  dumb,  and 
slialt  not  be  able  to  speak  until  the  day  wherein 
these  things  shall  come  to  pass;  because  thou  hast 
not  believed  my  words,  which  shall  be  fulfilled  in 
their  time."^  Then  the  vision  faded,  like  the 
scented  vapour  wafted  on  the  air ;  the  angel  and 
the  incense  ascended  together  to  heaven. 

Such  was  the  vision  which  Zachary  recorded 
on  his  tablets  and  Avliich  he  explained  by  gestures 
before  the  astonished  people.^  The  Temple  and 
the  city  were  soon  filled  with  the  rumour  of  this 
prodigy.  Under  the  porch  of  Solomon  the  Scribes 
discussed    its   nature   and    meaning,    amidst    the 

1  Luke,  1.  18—21. 

2  IcL,  ibid.y  22. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  1 59 

respectful  silence  of  those  who  believed  in  it;  in 
the  Synagogues  they  recalled  the  apparitions  of 
Mambre/  Bethel,"  Saraa,^  celebrated  by  the  births 
which  they  had  preceded.  But  how  much  more 
worthy  of  admiration  was  this  vision,  had  they 
been  able  to  see  in  what  it  differed  from  the 
others!  God  glorified  beforehand,  no  longer  His 
faithful  servants,  but  His  immediate  precursor,  the 
first  of  His  apostles  and  martyrs,  the  man  of 
whom  He,  Himself,  should  say  that  there  was 
none  greater  among  the  children  of  men.^ 

The  week  passed,  Zachary  returned  to  his 
home,  and  a  short  time  after  Elizabeth  announced 
to  him  that  God  had  fulfilled  His  promise. 
Ashamed  of  this  long-delayed  happiness,  the  poor 
woman  hid  herself  from  all  eyes,  keeping  for  her- 
self tlie  secret  which  she  w^as  reluctant  to  divulge, — 
"v/hat  God  had  done  for  her  when  He  deigned  to 
deliver  her  from  the  reproach  which  overwhelmed 
her  in  the  sight  of  men."^  The  most  natural 
wish  of  a  childless  woman  who  felt  that  she  had 
incurred  blame  from  which  she  was  about  to  be 
exonerated  would  be,  we  think,  a  desire  to  show 
to  all,  and  as  soon  as  possible,  that  she  had  not 
deserved  it.  But  Saint  Elizabeth  w^as  influenced 
by  a  higher  motive  when  she  withdrew  from  all 

1     Genes.  XVIII.  2  and  following. 

-    Ibid.  XXVIII.  13—19. 

3    Jud.  XIII.  3  and  following. 

^  Matth.,  XI.  11:  "Non  surrexit  inter  natos  mulierum 
major  Joanne  Baptista." 

^  Luke,  1.  25:  "Quia  sic  fecit  mihi  Dominus,  in  diebus 
quibus  respexit  auferre  opprobrium  meum  inter  homines.'* 


l6o  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

eyes,  and  kept  the  secret  of  her  happiness  for  her- 
self and  her  vSpouse,  with  whom  she  shared  also,  in 
a  measnre,  the  pnnishment  inflicted  upon  him  by 
the  angel.  The  weeks  and  months  which  pre- 
ceded the  birth  of  her  child  were  thus  a  time  of 
fervent  prayer,  of  holy  retirement,  of  acts  of 
thanksgiving,  and  of  spiritual  preparation  for  the 
maternity  which  she  had  obtained  in  so  wonderful 
a  manner,  after  having  ceased  to  hope  for  or 
desire  it.^ 

But  it  was  not  pleasing  to  God  that  the  secret 
should  be  kept  beyond  certain  limits.  It  elicited 
very  little  notice  among  the  neighbours  of  Eliza- 
beth, as  is  usually  the  case  in  oriental  life,  when 
nothing  happens  to  draw  each  family  from  its  own 
seclusion.  The  spouse  of  Zachary,  in  her  sadness 
and  humiliation,  had  very  little  attraction  for  the 
people  whose  hearths  she  no  longer  frequented. 
Besides,  maternity  came  to  her  at  seed  time,  and 
in  the  rainy  season,^  that  is  to  say,  at  a  time  little 
suited  for  the  interchange  of  curtesies  among 
neighbours.  vShe  had,  then,  sufficient  excuse  to 
continue  her  ordinary  life  by  remaining  in  seclusion 
till  her  sixth  month.  The  servants  must  have 
ascertained  the  state  of  their  mistress,  but  with  a 
discretion  usual  in  their  position,  which  allowed 
them  neither  to  ask,  nor  say  anything.  God 
reserved  for  Himself  the  right  to  speak  of  it,  and 
the  confidante  He  chose  was  none  other  than  the 

^     P.  Coleridge,  Preparation  de  V Incarnation ^    c.  VIII. 
2    The  end  of  lischri  or  during  the  course  of  Marches- 
chvan  (September  and  October). 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  l6l 

mother  of  the  Redeemer,  who  was  as  yet  unaware 
of  her  high  destiny.^ 

The  angel  Gabriel  soon  reappeared  in  the  land 
of  Israel.  This  time  he  again  prophesied  the 
coming  of  a  child  by  miracle,  but  what  a  difference 
jjetween  the  two,  great  though  the  first  was  to  be! 
Elizabeth  was  to  give  birth  to  a  man  without 
equal,  Mary  should  be  the  mother  of  a  God  made 
man  for  the  salvation  of  humanity.  lyike  the 
priest,  but  not  for  the  same  reason,  the  Virgin 
seemed  to  doubt,  and  the  angel  gave  lier  as  a  proof 
of  the  power  that  had  overshadowed  her,  the 
unexpected  maternity  of  her  cousin.'-^  He  who 
makes  the  desert  blossom,^  could  He  not  also 
make  virginity  fruitful?^  "Behold,"  said  the 
Archangel,  "thy  cousin  Elizabeth,  she  also  hath 
conceived  a  son  in  her  old  age,  and  this  is  the 
sixth  month  with  her  that  is  called  barren;  because 
no  word  shall  be  impossible  with  God."  To  these 
words,  Mary,  taught  suddenly  of  God,  immediately 
replied  —  "Behold  the  handmaid  be  it  done  to  me 
according  to  thy  word." 

The  angel  returned  to  heaven  and  the  Virgin 
immediately  set  out  for  Judea,  hastening  to 
this  friend  whom  she  felt  was  predestined  to 
be  the  first  to  receive,  on  earth,  the  revelation  of 

1  According  to  Christopher  de  Castro  (De  Deipara), 
Anne,  the  mother  of  Mary,  was  the  daughter  of  a  priest  of 
the  family  of  Abia. 

2  Luke,  1,  36. 

"  Isai.,  XXXV,  1:  "The  wilderness  shall  rejoice,  and 
shall  flourish  like  the  lily." 

*     Zachar.,  IX.  17:  "Germinans  virgiues." 


1 62  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

the  salvation  of  Israel.  Happy  Elizabeth,  to 
whom  no  other  woman  could  be  compared,  since 
she  merited  above  all  others,  and  in  the  first 
moments  of  His  mortal  life,  the  right  to  salute  the 
Son  of  God  made  man!  But  more  happy  still,  as 
v/e  shall  soon  see,  since  the  happiness  of  mothers 
is  caused,  in  a  special  manner,  by  that  which  per- 
tains to  their  children! 

April  brought  back  the  sunlight ;  winter  was 
over  and  gone,  the  rains  had  done  their  work  and 
the  land  was  covered  with  innumerable  flowers, 
which  delighted  the  eyes  of  the  traveller,  while 
the  spring  sun  warmed  the  atmosphere.  The  voice 
of  the  turtle,  so  dear  to  the  prophet,  was  heard, 
the  fig-trees  were  covered  with  buds,  and  the 
flower-clad  vines  perfumed  the  air  with  their  pene- 
trating fragrance.^  From  the  terrace  of  her  house 
Elizabeth  looked  upon  hill  and  plain  rivalling  each 
other  in  verdure ;  everywhere,  as  in  herself,  there 
energised  the  vigour  of  a  new  life.  Though  un- 
able to  understand,  she  felt  the  approach  of  a  joy, 
exceptional  in  its  nature  and  intensity:  but  a  few 
moments,  and  her  soul  shall  overflow  with  grati- 
tude to  God,  who  overwhelmed  her  with  His 
favours.  All  at  once,  while  her  mind  was  filled 
with  these  sweet  dreams,  the  customary  salutation, 
''Peace  be  with  you!"^  pronounced  by  an  imknown 

^  Cantic,  II,  11 — 13:  "Jam  hiems  transiit,  iinber  abiit 
et  recessit.  Flores  apparuerunt  in  terra  nostra.  .  .  Vox  tur- 
turis  audita  est.  .  .  Ficus  protulit  grossos  suos :  vineae  floren- 
tes  dederunt  odorem  suum." 

2  "Pax  tecum!"  is  the  Palestinian  greeting:  "Sala- 
malek ! " 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  163 

voice,  struck  upon  her  ears.  It  was  Mary,  who 
bent  before  her  in  token  of  affectionate  respect.^ 
Immediately  a  trembling  seized  her;  she  felt  her 
child  leap  within  her,  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
took  possession  of  her,  and  in  broken  accents,  she 
exclaimed:  "Blessed  art  thou  among  women,  and 
blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb!  .  .  .  And  whence 
is  this  to  me  that  the  mother  of  my  Lord  should 
come  to  me?  .  .  .  For  behold,  as  soon  as  the  voice 
of  thy  salutation  sounded  in  my  ears,  the  infant 
in  my  womb  leaped  for  joy!  .  .  .  And  blessed  art 
thou  that  hast  believed;  because  those  things  shall 
be  accomplished  that  were  spoken  to  thee  by  the 
Lord."  1  Thus  Elizabeth  did  not  invoke  the  bless- 
ing of  Heaven  on  her  young  relative  in  return  for 
the  peace  that  she  had  wished  her :  benediction 
and  grace  were  in  Mary,  and  came  from  her  as 
from  an  overflowing  source.  By  the  light  which 
illumined  her  soul,  the  spouse  of  Zachary  recog- 
nised the  greatness  of  the  Virgin-Mother  and  the 
honour  which  she  had  conferred  in  bringing  to  her 
house  the  King  of  Kings.  But  she  was  not  alone 
in  her  amazement  and  veneration:  the  infant  who 
slept  in  her  bosom  awoke  and  made  an  effort  to 
meet  his  Redeemer,  who  was  veiled  also  from  pro- 
fane eyes,  but  visible  to  the  Baptist  in  the  taber- 
nacle where  it  pleased  the  Messiah  to  remain  still 
enclosed.  Let  us  listen  to  him  speaking  in  the 
words  of  Chrysostom:  "I  see  the  Lord  who  shortens 
for  me  the  allotted  time  of  nature,  and  I  do  not 

1     lyuke,    I,    40:     "And    she   entered    into   the   house  of 
Zachary,  and  saluted  Elizabeth." 


164  'THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JE:SUS. 

wait  for  the  hour  of  ordinary  birth.  What  need 
have  I  of  these  nine  months  ?  The  Eternal  is 
within  me;  I  will  go  forth  from  this  obscure  retreat 
and  will  publish,  as  far  as  I  may,  all  these  won- 
ders. I  am  the  forerunner :  I  desire  to  announce 
the  coming  of  the  Christ.  I  am  a  herald  :  I  will 
announce  the  manifestation  of  the  Son  of  God  in 
the  flesh.  My  voice  shall  resound,  and,  blessing 
my  father's  tongue,  it  shall  be  revived  so  that  it 
shall  be  heard  v/ith  mine.  I  will  raise  my  voice 
and  will  give  my  mother  new  life !  .  .  .  Behold, 
then.  Him  who  breaks  down  all  obstacles;  why  do 
I  remain  enchained  in  this  prison  which  I  wish  to 
leave?  The  Word  is  come  to  regenerate  all  things, 
and  I  remain  inactive  !  I  must  go,  I  must  run  to 
meet  Him  and  exclaim  to  all  mankind  :  'Behold 
the  I^amb  of  God,  Behold  Him  who  takest  away 
the  sins  of  the  world!'  "^ 

By  these  raptures  we  may  imagine  the  tender- 
ness of  the  Master's  love  for  His  jDrecursor;  a  love 
as  wonderful  as  the  life  which  produced  it,  and 
that  which  it  visited,  but  whose  precociousness 
reveals  to  us  more  clearly  its  divine  character. 
How  much  more  will  he  be  loved  later  on,  wdiom 
we  see  already  so  favoured!  When  the  head  of  the 
Baptist  shall  have  fallen,  the  Gospel  will  not  need 
to  tell  us  of  the  Redeemer's  sorrow;  ^  to  understand 
the  mystery  we  shall  have  the  recollection  of  the 
moment  when  the  greatest  of  the  children  of  men, 

1  Luke,  I,  42—45. 

2  S.  Joann.  Chrys.,  Serm,  ap.  Metaphrast.,  mense  Julii 

3  Cf.  Matth.,  XIV,  13 ;  Mark,  VI,  30—31. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  165 

sanctified  by  the  approach  of  the  Word  made  flesh 
in- the  bosom  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  leaped  in  the 
bosom  of  Elizabeth. 

The  Holy  Spirit  wished  not  only  that  Elizabeth 
should  speak;  under  His  inspiration  Mary  opened 
her  lips  and  proclaimed  the  wonders  of  this  hour 
in  a  canticle,  the  poetry  of  which  far  surpasses 
that  of  the  hymns  sung  to  the  God  of  Israel  by 
Moses  or  Deborah^:  "My  soul  doth  magnify  the 
Lord :  and  my  spirit  hath  rejoiced  in  God  iny 
Saviour;  because  He  hath  regarded  the  humility 
of  His  handmaid.  For  behold,  from  henceforth 
all  generations  shall  call  me  blessed.  For  He  that 
is  mighty  hath  done  great  things  to  me:  and  holy 
is  His  Name!  And  His  mercy  is  from  generation 
to  generation,  to  them  that  fear  Him.  He  hath 
showed  might  in  His  arm;  He  hath  scattered  the 
proud  in  the  conceit  of  their  heart.  He  hath  put 
down  the  mighty  from  their  seat,  and  hath  exalted 
the  humble.  He  hath  filled  the  hungry  with  good 
things:  and  the  rich  He  hath  sent  empty  away. 
He  hath  received  Israel  His  servant,  being  mind- 
ful of  His  mercy.  As  He  spoke  to  our  fathers, 
to  Abraham  and  his  seed  for  ever!"^ 

The  Virgin-Mother  seemed  to  have  before  her 
mind  all  the  thanksgivings  that  the  patriarchs, 
kings,  and  prophets  of  her  race  had  addressed  to 
Heaven  from  the  first  days  of  the  chosen  people, 
for  the  benefits  of  the  present  and  the  hopes  of  the 
future;  above   all,    for  this   hope   of   the    Messiah 

i     Exod.,  XV,  1—21 ;  Jud.,  V,  1—31. 
2     Luke,  I,  46-55. 


l66  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

which  was  indeed  the  very  life  of  Israel/  and 
which  she  saw  realised,  for  she  carried  within  h^r 
tlie  Incarnate  Word;  the  world  was  about  to  have 
proof  of  it,  and  the  leaping  of  Elizabeth's  child 
inansfurated  the  mission  of  the  Precursor.  She 
saluted,  at  its  dawn,  the  day  about  to  rise,  where 
mercy  and  truth  have  met  together :  justice  and 
peace  have  kissed  each  other. ^ 

Elizabeth  and  Zachary  contemplated  her  in 
silence.  The  same  thought  occupied  the  minds 
of  both  —  that  of  the  presence,  in  their  house,  of 
the  God  whom  their  fathers  dreaded  to  meet,  and 
who  filled  them  with  a  serene  joy.  He  was  then 
veiled  as  He  was  in  the  flame  or  the  cloud  which 
hid  Him  from  the  eyes  of  Moses,  and  His  words 
vibrated  on  Mary's  lips,  as  they  had  on  those  of 
the  Angels  whom  He  had  sent  to  Jacob  or  to 
Daniel;  but  they  were  not  afraid  in  this  Presence, 
whose  meekness  and  gentleness  revealed  the  Prince 
of  Peace, ^  —  the  Eamb  who  takest  away  the  sins 
of  the  world,*  the  God  who  is  rich  in  mercy  to  all 
who  call  upon  Him.^  And  the  cause  of  this  happi- 
ness which  enraptured  them  was  the  child  who,  as 
Gabriel  foretold,  should  go  before  the  Lord  in  the 
spirit  and  power  of  Elias,  —  the  child  whom  Eliza- 
beth still  concealed  in  her  bosom,  but  whose  name, 
given  beforehand  by  the  Angel,  signified.  The 
Lord  graciously  gave^  —  the  child  whose  life  had 

1  Cf.  Geikie,  Life  of  Christ,  I,  p.  109,  etc. 

2  Psalm,  LXXXIV,  11. 

3  Isaii,  IX,  6. 
*  John,  I,  29. 

5    Rom.,  X,  12;  Ephes.,  II,  4. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  167 

just  been  manifested  by  a  leap  of  gladness  at  the 
arrival  of  the  divine  visitor  whom  he  had  been  the 
first  to  recognise  and  salute. 

At  the  appointed  time,  Elizabeth  gave  birth  to 
a  son,  around  whom,  eight  days  later,  relations 
and  friends  assembled  for  the  ceremony  of  circum- 
cision. According  to  custom,  a  name  was  chosen 
for  the  newly-born  child,  and  all  agreed  to  call  him 
Zachary,  after  his  father,  and,  doubtless,  after  sev- 
eral of  his  ancestors  also. 

The  mother  protested:  ^*Not  so,"  she  ex- 
claimed, "but  he  shall  be  called  John."  —  "Tliere 
is  none  of  thy  kindred  that  is  called  by  this  name," 
the  assistants  replied,  turning  towards  the  father 
with  signs  of  questioning  surprise.  Zachary  took 
his  tablets,  and  with  a  look  of  inspiration,  as  if  he 
still  heard  Gabriel  speak,  he  wrote  :  ''John  is  his 
name!"  He  had  scarcely  finished  when  his  tongue 
was  loosened,  his  voice  resounded  full  of  holy 
enthusiasm.  —  "Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel, 
because  he  hath  visited  and  wrought  the  redemp- 
tion of  his  people:  And  hath  raised  up  a  horn  of 
salvation  to  us,  in  the  house  of  David,  his  servant. 
As  he  spoke  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets, 
who  are  from  the  beginning ;  Salvation  from  our 
enemies,  and  from  the  hand  of  all  that  hate  us; 
To  show  mercy  to  our  fathers;  and  to  remember 
his  holy  covenant.  The  oath  which  he  swore  to 
Abraham  our  father,  that  he  would  grant  to  us; 
That  being  delivered  from  the  hand  of  our  enemies, 
we  may  serve  him  without  fear,  in  holiness  and 
justice  before  him,  all  our  days.     And  thou,  child. 


1 68  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

shall  be  called  the  propliet  of  the  Most  High :  for 
thou  shalt  go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord,  to  pre- 
pare his  way:  To  give  knowledge  of  salvation  to 
his  people,  unto  the  remission  of  their  sins. 
Through  the  bowels  of  the  mercy  of  our  God  :  in 
which  the  Orient  from  on  high  hath  visited  us. 
To  enlighten  them  that  sit  in  darkness,  and  in  the 
shadow  of  death :  to  direct  our  feet  unto  the  way 
of  peace.  "^ 

The  admiration  which  surrounded  Zachary  in 
this  solemn  hour  was  soon  spread  abroad,  and  fear 
took  possession  of  the  whole  mountainous  region 
of  Judea.  Everyone  asked:  "What  a  one,  think 
ye,  shall  this  child  be?  For  they  felt  that  the  hand 
of  the  Ivord  was  with  him,'-^  and  perhaps  they 
already  invested  him  with  the  power  to  raise  up 
and  restore  Israel.  But  they  took  good  care  not  to 
express  their  sentiments  in  public  :  Jerusalem  was 
too  near,  with  its  suspicious  tyrant,  served  by  in- 
numerable spies,  and  they  were  content  to  wait, 
with  the  wearied  resignation  which  seemed  to  have 
become,  'par  excellence^  the  virtue  of  Judea,  since 
the  last  of  the  Asmoneans  was  laid  in  his  tomb. 


1  Luke,  I,  68—80. 

2  Id.,  ibid.,  66, 


Chapter  V. 
The    Precursor. 

For  this  is  he  who  was  spoken 
of  by  Isaias  the  prophet,  saying: 
A  voice  of  one  crying  in  the 
desert :  Prepare  ye  the  way  of 
the  Lord.  Matt.  Ill,  3. 

"And  the  child  grew  up  and  was  strengthened 
in  spirit;  and  was  in  the  deserts  until  the  day  of 
his  manifestation  to  Israel."  ^ 

These  obscure  words  are  all  that  remain  to  us 
of  the  history  of  John  during  the  first  thirty  years 
of  his  life.  The  mysterious  parallel  which  seems 
to  exist  between  the  Master  and  him  in  their  an- 
nunciation and  birth,  continues  to  the  end  of  their 
lives,  particularly  in  the  long  obscurity  which 
surrounded  the  time  of  preparation  for  their  public 
ministry.  Shall  we  try  to  penetrate  this  shadow 
which  envelopes  John  the  Baptist,  as  we  have  tried 
to  remove  that  which  encircled  the  Redeemer  ? 
The  attempt  to  do  so  would  be  profitless,  and  we 
prefer  to  pass  on,  stopping  only  to  consider  briefly 
those  deserts  ^  in  which  the  Precursor  awaited  the 
moment  of  his  manifestation. 

Those  who  attach  any  importance  to  the  fanci- 
ful ideas,   according  to  which  John  the   Baptist 

1  Luke,  I,  80. 

2  Id.,  ibid.y  "E)t  erat  in  desertis.^^ 

(169) 


170  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

should  have  adopted  the  life  of  the  Essenes,i  trace 
him  to  the  rugged  ravines  of  Onady-en-Nahr ^  an 
ancient  valley  of  the  Cedron  at  its  wildest  part, 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  actual 
convent  of  Mar-Saba.  Certainly  it  is  difficult  to 
find  anything  that  corresponds  better  to  our  idea  of 
a  desert,  and  more  so,  to  that  chosen  by  a  preacher 
of  austere  life  and  language.  The  grottos  hollowed 
out  by  nature  or  the  hand  of  man  in  the  sides  of 
these  abrupt  rocks  above  the  torrent,  and  far  from 
the  summit,  seemed  to  form  an  appropriate  dwell- 
ing for  these  sons  of  the  Prophets^  who  suddenly 
appeared  in  the  midst  of  crowds,  their  faces 
emaciated  and  pale,  their  hair  and  beard  neglected, 
scarcely  covered  with  a  cloak  of  camel's  hair,  as 
v/e  are  accustomed  to  represent  John  the  Baptist.^ 
But  the  striped  white  and  brown  tunic,  girt 
with  a  leather  girdle,  such  as  is  still  worn  by  the 
peasants  around  Bethlehem  and  Ai'n-Karim,  has 
nothing  in  common  with  the  white  garments  of 
the  Essenes,^  and  the  deserts  where  the  son  of 
Elizabeth  dwelt  have  always  been  located  by  tra- 
dition in  quite  another  part  of  Judea.  What  we 
call  the  desert  of  St.  John  does  not  correspond, 

1  Graetz,  Geschichte  der  Juden,  t.  Ill;  Cohen,  les  Pha- 
risiens,  t.  II,  c.  1.  —  It  is  curious  to  compare  these  reveries 
with  the   Visions  of  Catherine  Emmerich  on  this  subject. 

2  III  Reg.,  XX,  35;  —  IV  Reg.,  II,  a,  5,  7;  VI,  1 ;  — 
Amos,  VII,  14,  etc. 

2  Matth.,  Ill,  4:  "Joannes  hahehat  vestimen^uni  de pilis 
camelorunt  et  zonam  pelliceani  circa  lumbos  ejus." 

4  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jiid.,  XVIII,  11.  —  Cf,  Stapfer,  Les 
id^es  religieuses  en  Palestine,  p.  210 — 211. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  171 

it  is  true,  in  its  extent,  to  the  one  mentioned  in 
the  Gospel.  This  desert,  '^smiling  in  its  flowers," 
is,  in  reality,  "the  summit  of  a  mountain  covered 
with  white  cistus,  yellow  papilionaceous  plants  and 
a  quantity  of  various  flowers  and  woody  shrubs 
that  scarcely  rise  above  the  ground.  When  we 
cross  the  ridge,  we  come  to  St.  John's  spring;  it 
gushes  out  from  a  hole  in  the  rock;  —  two  paces 
from  it,  on  a  steep  incline,  is  the  grotto  which  the 
Precursor  occupied."  ^ 

At  the  time  of  the  Abbot  Daniel, 2  the  mountain 
was  crowned  witli  a  thick  wood,  as  it  was  when 
David,  according  to  the  words  of  the  Scripture,^ 
abode  in  the  forest.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  we 
understand  what  is  meant  by  the  desert  of  Juda,* 
and  more  so  still  that  of  Engaddi,  celebrated  for 
its  vines,  balm-trees,  and  palms ^:  a  series  of 
eminences  more  or  less  elevated,  —  now  treeless, 
but  formerly  wooded,  —  cut  up  by  ravines  through 
which  streams  vStill  flow  in  the  rainy  season,  but 
formerly  always  irrigated  by  the  water  which  fell 
from  the  thicket  and  forests.  Not  that  there  are 
no  extensive  tracts  where  the  vegetation  is  burned 
up  by  the  scorching  sun.  Then,  as  in  our  own 
day,    the    traveller   passed    through  cool  oases  in 

1  F.  Bovet,    Voyage  en  Terre  Sainte,  p.  298—299. 

2  In  the  XII.  century.  (  V.  Pelerinage  en  Terre  Sainte, 
p.  132.) 

3  I  Reg.,  XXIII,  18:  "Mansitque  David  in  silva.  .  .  in 
locis  tutissimis  silvae." 

4  Matth.,  Ill,  1:  "In  deserto  Judaeae."  —  Cf.  I  Rego, 
XXIII,  15  and  25. 

«    I  Reg.,  XXIV,  2  ;   Cant.,  I,  13  etc. 


172  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

these  valleys  of  fire  where  the  chalky  soil  crumbled 
under  foot,  and  over  those  gloomy  table-lands 
where  one  makes  his  way  with  great  difficulty 
through  thorns  and  flints,  but  from  which  the  eye 
roams  over  a  scene  of  exquisite  beauty.*  From 
Bethlehem  to  the  Dead  Sea,  from  West  to  South- 
east, over  a  space  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  kilo- 
meters as  the  bird  flies,  the  deserts  extended, 
animated  only  by  the  passing  of  nomadic  tribes, 
against  whom,  in  the  time  of  Herod,  the  fortresses 
of  Herodium  and  Massada  had  been  built  —  a  land 
favorable  to  vagrants  and  fugitives,  because  of  its 
difficulties  and  its  resources,  —  the  refuge  of  crimi- 
nals,—  the  asylum  of  outlaws,  —  a  school  to  which 
souls  devoted  to  solitude,  and  those  who  are  pre- 
paring for  a  life  of  warfare,  are  naturally  attracted. 
The  most  cherished  memories  of  Jewish  an- 
tiquity linger  around  these  places.  It  was  here 
that  Saul  vanquished  the  Philistines;  here  that 
David  awaited  the  days  of  his  prosperity;  it  was 
here  that  Amos  fitted  himself  for  his  ministry  and 
thither  he  came  back  to  die.  The  armies  of  Israel 
have  passed  over  all  this  territory;  at  all  these 
torrents  the  patriarchs  have  watered  their  flocks; 
on  all  these  heights  and  in  every  wood  Jehovah 
and  Baal  were  alternately  worshipped.  Ruins 
alone  bear  testimony  of  them  to-day,  but  in  the 
first  century  of  our  era  this  desert  teemed  with  a 
life  full  of  charm,  so  that  one  could  still,  with 
David  and  Jeremiah,  extol  its  beauties.^ 

^     Psalm,   LXIV,   IB:   "Finguescent  speciosa  deserli.^^  — 
Jerem.jIX,  10:  "Super  speciosa  deserti  (assumam)  plauctum.'* 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS  173 

At  what  precise  date  did  John  the  Baptist  enter 
it  ?     We  do  not  know,  and  there  is  no  chie  to  the 
mystery.     The  time  he  resided  here,  it  is  said,  with 
Elizabeth,   after  the  massacre  of   the    Innocents, 
however  long  we  may  suppose  it  to  have  been, 
could  not  have  lasted  till  the  day  when  we  find  him 
beginning  to  preach.     Probably  the  death  of  his 
parents   induced  him   to   go  into  seclusion.      An 
only  son,  not  caring  to  continue  the  priestly  tra- 
dition,   consequently   free    from    family    ties,    and 
wishing   to    liberate    himself    from    those    of    the 
Temple,  he  no  doubt  then  sought  the  desert,   to 
listen  in  peace  to  the  voice  of  Heaven.    The  Apostle 
is  trained  in  seclusion:  the  prophets  of  the  ancient 
Ivaw  came  from  the  desert;    Paul  took  refuge  there 
after  his  conversion,  to  strengthen  his  soul,  and 
the  divine    Master   Himself  has   not  chosen    any 
other  way.     John  then  sought  this  retreat  where 
he  lived  in  austerity.^    Clothed  like  the  fellahs  and 
shepherds,  living  like  them  on  locusts  and  wild 
honey ,^  he  abstained  from  all  fermented  drink^,^ 
thereby  resembling  those  ascetics  venerated  in  the 

1  According  to  Sophronius  {^Prat.  spir.,  c.  Ij,  and  Bede 
{De  loc.  sand.,  c.  XIII),  he  must  have  inhabited  a  narrow 
cave  at  a  place  called  Sapsas. 

2  Matth.  Ill,  4:  ''Esca  autem  ejus  erat  locustae  et  mel 
sylvestrey  —  (The  Greeks,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  regarded 
locusts  as  food,  like  the  modern  Arabs,  the  Hindoos  and  the 
blacks  of  the  Sahara.) 

3  Luke,  I,  15:  "Vinum  et  siceram  non  bibet."  —  (The 
ancients  regarded  John  the  Baptist  as/.he  founder  of  the  mo- 
nastic life.  "Sicut  sacerdotum  principes  sunt  apostoli,  ita  et 
monachorum  princeps,  Joannes  Baptista,"  says  S.  John  Chry- 
sostom,  Homil.,  in  Marcmn.) 


174  "THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

East  as  the  friends  of  Heaven,  and  from  among 
whom  it  selects  its  Mahdis,  its  Prophets,  and 
Precursors. 

What  he  refused  to  the  flesh  he  gave  to  the 
spirit,  by  continual  meditation  on  the  prophecies, 
wherein  he  could  see  his  own  figure  by  the  side  of 
the  Messiah.^  But  it  was  not  a  vain  and  inactive 
contemplation,  by  it  he  acquired  a  practical  know- 
ledge of  the  part  allotted  to  him,  that  of  fore- 
runner, charged  with  preparing  the  way  for  the 
Messiah.  To  succeed,  he  must  not  only  have  an 
eloquence  animated  by  divine  inspiration  like 
Klias,  the  remembrance  of  whom,  recalled  by  the 
Angel,  was  always  present  to  his  memory;  but  his 
words  should  bear  fruit  in  his  works,  and  the 
exercise  of  the  highest  virtue  was  not  too  great  for 
such  a  mission. 

Of  this  preparation  the  Gospel  tells  us  nothing, 
no  doubt  because  subsequent  events  were  ordained 
to  reveal  it;  and  in  fact  it  does  not  require  any 
great  effort  to  understand  to  what  preparatory  work 
the  virtue  of  the  greatest  of  the  children  of  men 
owed  its  perfection.  Flowers  and  fruits  bear  testi- 
mony to  good  seed  and  to  the  soil  —  and  also  to  the 
man,  a  fellow-labourer  with  God,  who  insures  the 
growth  of  the  plants  watered  by  a  loving  hand.^ 

In  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius^, 

1  Isai.,  XI,  3;    Malach.,  Ill,  1. 

2  I.  Cor.  Ill,  6:  "Ego  plantavi,  Apollo  rigavit,  Deus 
autem  incrementum  dedit." 

3  That  is  to  say  from  his  partnership  iu  the  empire,  in 
the  year  765  of  Rome,  the  12th  of  the  common  era,  which 
assigns  the  appearance  of  John  the  Baptist  on  the  shores  of 
the  Jordan  to  the  j^ear  780. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  I75 

Pontins  Pilate  being  governor  of  Judea,  and  Herod 
tetrarcli  of  Galilee,  nnder  tlie  pontificate  of  Annas 
and  Caiplias,  —  the  voice  of  God  v/as  heard  in  the 
desert  by  John,  the  son  of  Zachary,^  ordering  liim. 
to  go  and  preach.  He  obeyed  at  once,^  and 
descended  into  the  plain  of  tlie  Jordan  to  join  the 
travellers  -who  came  to  the  fords  near  Bethania  and 
Betharaba,^  whether  from  the  west  or  down  from 
the  country  of  Moab.  The  passage  was  difScult 
and  necessitated  a  delay  going  or  coming,  accord- 
ing to  the  bank  from  which  they  crossed.  Coming 
from  Jerusalem,  the  caravans  naturally  halted  for 
the  night,  between  Jericho  and  the  woods  which 
bordered  the  right  bank."^  When  they  arrived  from 
Moab,  by  the  Onady-Charib,  they  were  forced  to 
stay  at  the  same  place  to  dress  their  ranks  after 
the  passage  of  the  river  and  thickets.  When 
travelling,  the  Oriental  moves  slowly  and  rests 
willingly,  particularly  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
water,  at  night-fall,  when  a  large  party  promises 
considerable  pleasure  and  security.  If  the  hot 
hours  of  the  day  invite  sleep,  the  freshness  of  the 

1  Luke,  III,  1—2. 

2  This  we  may  understand  as  his  first  preaching,  in  the 
desert  itself,  or  on  its  confines,  where  is  still  shown  a  rock 
which  may  have  been  the  pulpit  of  the  Precursor.  (Cf.  Sepp, 
Vie  de  N— S  J— C,  2nd  part,  2nd  sect.,  Ch.  2,)  After  which 
John  would  have  come  to  the  borders  of  the  Jordan. 

3  John,  I,  28.  —  Cf.  Judic,  VII,  24.  —  The  desert  of  Juda 
ended  on  the  north,  towards  Jericho,  and  the  mouth  of  the 
Jordan.  Bethania  would  have  been  situated  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  river,  Betharaba  on  the  left,  according  to  Sepp,  loc. 
cit.,  c.  IV. 

^     At  the  passage  designated  by  the  name  of  Bethania. 


176  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

night  disposes  liiiu  to  relish  the  interminable  reci- 
tations of  the  story-tellers,  the  monotonous  songs 
of  the  Guitarists,^  and  the  slow  measures  of  the 
dancing-girls.  Then,  sometimes,  amid  a  respect- 
ful silence,  the  voice  of  some  dervish  is  raised  to 
explain  the  sacred  word,  as  a  learned  man  or  an 
apostle,  with  all  the  subtleties  of  a  scholastic  and 
all  the  ardour  of  one  specially  enlightened.  With 
impassive  countenances,  the  audience  follows 
every  movement  of  the  speaker's  soul,  now  excited 
almost  to  frenzy,  now  wrapt  in  a  dream  of  Para- 
dise. Nothing  has  such  power  over  the  Eastern 
imagination  as  those  passionate  discourses,  the 
result  of  which  may  be,  perhaps,  at  a  given 
moment,  the  insurrection  of  a  tribe,  and  the  ruin 
of  a  whole  country. 

The  neighbourhood  of  Jericho,  a  town  essen- 
tially cosmopolitan,  attracts  to  the  borders  of  the 
Jordan  a  host  of  visitors,  —  the  curious  in  quest  of 
novelties,  Pharisees  seeking  new  proselytes,  women 
anxious  to  display  their  charms,  soldiers  guarding 
and  superintending  the  encampments,^ — a  hetero- 
genious  assembly  at  first  sight,  but  in  reality  com- 
posed of  elements  identical  in  susceptibility  and 
enthusiasm.  It  is  in  the  centre  of  this  crowd  that 
the  son  of  Zachary  suddenly  appears,  as  an  appari- 
tion of  ancient  times,  and  proclaims  his  mysterious 
doctrine. 

1  * 'Guitarists",  singers  who  accompany  themselves  on 
the  guitar  {Kotiitta),  or  on  a  violin  of  two  strings  {Rbab). 

2  Sepp  (Vie  de  N — S  J — C.)  considers  that  these  were 
the  soldiers  composing  the  guard  of  the  Temple,  but  the 
words  of  the  sacred  text  seem  to  apply  equally  to  the  Roman 
soldiers  and  the  mercenaries  of  Herod. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  1 77 

—  ''Do  penance,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand.  For  this  is  he  who  was  spoken  of  by 
Isaias  the  prophet  saying:  'A  voice  of  one  crying 
in  the  desert:  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord; 
make  straight  His  paths:  Every  valley  shall  be 
filled,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  brought 
low:  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and 
the  rough  ways  plain:  and  all  flesh  shall  see  the 
salvation  of  God'  ^  —  "For  this  is  He,  of  whom  it 
is  written:  Behold  I  send  my  Angel  before  thy 
face,  who  shall  prepare  thy  way  before  thee.  "2 

The  austere  appearance,  and  the  vibrating 
voice  of  the  preacher,  forcibly  arrested  their 
attention;  then,  when  they  recognised  the  high 
position  of  his  family,  the  sanctity  of  his  life,  the 
depth  of  his  knowledge,  their  first  impression  was 
soon  changed  into  enthusiasm.  It  was  the  region 
of  the  Jordan  that  first  responded  to  his  words, 
soon  carrying  with  it  Judea,  and  even  Jerusalem 
itself,^  in  one  of  those  irresistible  tides  of  public 
opinion  that  mark  a  decisive  moment  in  the  life  of 
a  people.  It  was  of  such  moments  that  a  historian 
has  justly  said:  "When  a  great  revolution  is  about 
to  be  accomplished  in  the  world,  and  a  new  day  in 
its  history  is  to  succeed  the  day  that  is  passed, 
there  is  often  stirred  up  in  the  hearts  of  the  people 
a  certain  feeling  which  reveals  to  them  this  near 
future,  and  causes  them  to  foresee,  in  some  way, 

1  Matth.,  Ill,  2 ;  —  Mark,  I,  3;  —  Luke,  III,  4,  (quoting 
Isai.,  XL,  3). 

2  Mark,  1,  2  (quoting  Malach.,  Ill,  1). 

3  Matth.,  Ill,  5;  —  Mark,  I,  5. 


178  TIIIv  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

whence  should  come  the  man  whom  Providence 
has  chosen  as  the  instrument  of  its  eternal  de- 
crees."^ In  John  were  realised  the  dreams  and 
hopes  of  Israel,  in  comparing  himself  to  the  Angel 
Precursor  of  the  Messiah,  and  proclaiming  himself 
ready  to  initiate  the  kingdom  for  which  they  had 
waited  so  long.  No  one  was  surprised  at  his  call 
to  penance,  that  is  to  say,  to  the  purification  neces- 
sary for  the  children  of  the  new  kingdom.^ — All 
struck  their  breasts,  confessing  their  sins,  and  went 
down  joyfully  into  the  waters  of  the  Jordan  to  be 
baptised.^ 

There  were  many  poor  among  this  multitude: 
John  took  great  care  to  recommend  them  to  the 
charity  of  the  rich,  when  they  asked  him,  "What 
then  shall  we  do?  —  He  that  hath  two  coats,  let 
him  give  to  him  that  hath  none;  and  he  that  hath 
meat,  let  him  do  in  like  manner."  ^ 

The  publicans  dared  to  brave  public  scorn  and 
drew  near  him:  "Master,  v/hat  shall  we  do?  —  Do 
nothing  more  than  that  which  is  appointed  you." 

The  soldiers  came  in  their  turn.  "And  what 
shall   we   do?  —  Do  violence  to  no  man:  neither 

J     Sepp,    Vie  de  N.—S.  J.—C,  loc.  cit. 

2  The  Talmud  says  (Sanhedrin,  fol.  97,  2):  "Si  Israelitae 
poenitentiam  agunt,  tunc  per  Goelem  (Messiam)  liberantur." 

3  Matth.,  Ill,  6 ;  —  Mark,  I,  5 ;  —  Luke,  III,  7 ;  —  John 
I,  25-28.  —  Nothing  was  more  natural  to  the  minds  of  the 
Jews  than  this  invitation  to  baptism.  It  was  usual  among 
tliera  for  proselytes,  as  among  the  Kssenes  for  new  adepts. 
{Ghemara  de  Babyl.  —  Cf.  Tacit.,  Hist.  V,  5.) 

4  Luke,  III,  11. 


run  FRI15NDSSIPS  OF  JKSUS.  1 79 

calumniate  any  man:  and  be  content  with  your 
pay."i 

The  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  could  not  stand 
aside,  were  it  only  from  curiosity,  or  a  desire  of 
display  before  the  populace.  They  came  also  in 
great  numbers,  putting  off  their  garments  to  go 
down  into  the  water.  The  preacher's  tone  changed 
at  once;  his  voice  hissed  like  a  scourge.  "Ye  off- 
spring of  vipers,  who  hath  showed  you  to  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come?  Bring  forth,  therefore,  fruit 
worthy  of  penance;  and  do  not  begin  to  say:  We 
have  Abraham  for  our  father.  For  I  say  to  you, 
that  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children 
to  Abraham.  For  now  the  axe  is  laid  to  the  root 
of  the  tree.  Every  tree,  therefore,  that  bringeth 
not  forth  good  fruit,  shall  be  cut  down,  and  cast 
into  the  fire!" 2 

The  hatred  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees 
against  the  Precursor  dates  from  this  day,  and  their 
vengeance  was  not  long  delayed;  but  while  wait- 
ing a  favourable  opportunity,  they  simulated,  so 
as  not  to  irritate  the  people,  whom  they  hoped  to 
make  their  accomplices. 

The  enthusiasm,  however,  steadily  increased, 
even  to  the  point  of  regarding  the  Baptist,  not  as  the 
herald  of  the  Messiah,  but  as  the  Messiah  Himself, 
against  which  error  John  energetically  protested. 
"I  indeed  baptise  you  with  water  unto  penance: 
but  He  who  is  to  come  after  me,  is  stronger  than  I, 

1  Ivuke,  III,  12-15.  —  The  allusion  to  the  informers  is 
worthy  of  note. 

2  Matth.,  Ill,  7-11 ;  —  Luke,  III,  7. 


l8o  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  carry:  He  shall 
baptise  you  witli  tlie  Holy  Spirit  and  with  fire. 
Whose  fan  is  in  His  liand;  and  He  will  thoroughly 
cleanse  His  floor,  and  gather  His  wheat  into  the 
barn;  but  tlie  chaff  He  will  burn  with  unquench- 
able fire."i 

The  preaching  of  the  Baptist  commenced  prob- 
ably in  the  autumn ^  of  the  year  28,^  which  was 
the  beginning,  according  to  some  authors,  of  a 
sabbatical  year,  that  is  to  say,  a  year  of  absolule 
rest  for  the  land  of  Israel."^  The  cessation  of 
work  at  this  period  increased  the  number  of  his 
audience,  and  the  plain  of  JerichiO  was  covered 
with  tents  which  sheltered  the  pilgrims  coming 
from  Galilee,  Samaria,  Peraea,  and  the  surround- 
ing regions.  Winter  dispersed  them,  but  they 
returned  in  the  sprin.g  of  the  year  29,  almost  in  as 
great  numbers,  and  quite  as  enthusiastic.  When 
the  heat  rendered  the  Ghor^  uninhabitable,  the 
pious  colony  betook  itself  to  the  north,  near  the 
village  of  Salim,  at  a  place  called  Ennon,  or  the 

1  Matth.,  Ill,  11-12 ;  —  Mark,  I,  8  ;  —  Luke,  III,  16. 

2  In  the  month  of  Tisri,  which  corresponds  to  our  months 
of  September  and  October.  The  Jews  regarded  it  as  the  most 
suitable  for  bathing  and  baptism.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was 
the  richest  in  festivals,  and  afforded  the  greatest  opportunities 
to  pilgrims  and  travellers. 

2  Or  27,  according  to  the  starting  point  adopted  by  mod, 
em  chronology. 

4  Fouard,  Vie  de  N.— S.  J.— C,  cit.  Wieseler,  Chrono- 
logische  Synopse,  p.  204. 

^  This  is  the  name  that  the  natives  give  to  the  valley  of 
the  Jordan. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  l8l 

Springs,  because  of  its  abundant  waters ;i  then,  in 
the  autumn  it  came  back  to  the  ford  of  Bethabara^ 
Vv^here  there  was  reserved  for  it  the  most  wonderful 
of  scenes. 

The  octave  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  was 
over,  and  the  multitude  hastening  to  Jerusalem, 
returned  towards  the  Jordan  to  regain  the  region 
bordering  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  The  Gali- 
leans were  numerous  there,  and  the  Precursor  had 
disciples  among  them  whose  renown  would  one 
day  be  known  to  the  entire  world.  But  he  did  not 
know  what  illustrious  proselyte  he  should  meet  in 
Galilee. 

On  one  of  the  first  days  of  the  month  of  No- 
vember,^ he  beheld  coming  tov/ards  him  a  man 
whom  he  had  never  seen  before,^  but  whom  he 
recognised 5  by  a  secret  inspiration,  to  be  He  of 
whom  God  had  said  to  him,  "He  upon  whom  thou 
shalt  see  the  Spirit  descending,  and  remaining  on 
Him,  He  it  is  that  baptiseth  with  the  Holy 
Ghost."  ^  —  And  John  wished  to  prevent  His  going 
down  into  the  Jordan:  "I  ought  to  be  baptised  by 
Thee;    and  corniest   Thou   to   me?"      And  Jesus 

1  It  is  probable  that  Johu  the  Baptist  did  not  await  the 
year  30,  that  is,  the  end  of  his  ministry,  to  settle  at  Ennon, 
during  the  hot  weather. 

2  We  adopt  here  the  most  rational  interpretation  of  the 
Gospel  text,  obscure  though  it  be,  in  this  instance. 

3  S.  Epiphanus  says  :  ''the  6th  of  the  ides  of  November," 
that  is,  about  the  7th  of  that  month.  —  Chevallier  places  this 
date  about  the  1st  of  November. 

4  John,  I,  31-33:  "Ego  nesciebam  eum." 
«    Matth.,  Ill,  14. 

6    John,  I,  33. 


l82  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

answering,  said  to  him:  "Suffer  it  now:  for  so  it 
becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  justice!" 

John  submitted,  and  poured  water  on  the  head 
of  the  divine  suppliant.  Imm.ediately  a  brilliant 
light  shone  on  the  surface  of  the  river, ^  the  heav- 
ens opened,  the  Holy  Spirit  appeared  in  the  form 
of  a  dove,  and  the  voice  of  the  Most  Higli  cried 
out:  "This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased."^  The  multitude  looked  on  astounded 
and  afraid,  and  John  bowed  down  in  adoration, 
while  Jesus,  smiling  and  majestic,  ascended  the 
steep  bank  and  disappeared  into  the  wood.  No 
one  had  dared  to  stop  Him,  because  it  was  not  yet 
His  wish  to  mingle  among  men.  The  Spirit  led 
him  to  the  desert,^  where  He  was  going  to  suffer 
temptation,  and  to  thus  finish  the  preparation  for 
His  apostolic  life. 

About  three  months  passed,  during  which  the 
son  of  Elizabeth  must  often  have  recalled  his 
infantine  recognition  of  the  vSaviour.  Then  also 
the  Son  of  God  was  as  one  unknown  to  him;  but 
he  had  felt  His  presence  in  the  obscurity  in  which 
he  was  concealed,  and  his  whole  being  had 
trembled  at  the  coming  of  the  Creator  to  His 
creature.  Impatient  as  lie  v/as  to  break  his  bonds, 
in  order  to  pay  Him  homage,  he  had  not  been  able 
to  escape  in  time  to  see  Him  even  at  a  distance, 

1  Addition  to  the  Codex  Vercellensis  (Migne,  Patrol. 
lat.,  t.  XII,  p.  155),  wliicli  is  found  again  in  S.  Justin  {Dia- 
log, cufrt   Tryphone). 

2  Matth.,  Ill,  17;  —  Mark,  I,  10-11 ;  —  Luke  III,  21-22; 
—  John,  I,  32. 

3  Matth.,  IV,  1 ;  —  Luke,  IV,  1. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.        183 

till  this  day  which  had  come  so  unexpectedly;  but, 
for  the  second  time,  the  Master  had  eluded  his 
adoring  love.  While  his  astonished  rapture  im- 
peded his  pursuing  Jesus,  an  ardent  desire  to  find 
Him  again  burned  within  his  soul,  and  his  eyes 
searched  the  crowd  incessantly,  to  see  if  there  v/ere 
any  trace  of  the  Messiah.  But  day  succeeded  day, 
bringing  back  the  winter  and  dispersing  his  dis- 
ciples: the  place  was  again  a  desert,  into  which 
John  re-entered,  not  without  some  sadness,  but 
with  the  hope,  however,  that  the  former  heavenly 
intercourse  would  still  be  maintained.  We  'may 
believe,  in  fact,  that  God  did  not  leave  him  any 
longer  in  trouble,  as  formerly  He  had  not  forsaken 
Daniel,  that  other  man  of  desires,^  to  whom  Gabriel 
came  to  foretell  the  day  and  the  hour  of  the  anoint- 
ing of  the  Saint  of  Saints.^  This  is  the  mystery 
that  we  are  never  allov/ed  to  penetrate.  Let  us 
pass  on  then,  and  return  to  the  banks  of  the  Jordan, 
where  springfound  the niultitudereassembled,  eager 
to  hear  the  words  of  the  Precursor.  The  Sanhedrin 
began  to  feel  uneasy  about  these  sermons,  the  echo 
of  which  had  penetrated  even  to  the  Holy  City. 

In  the  beginning  of  February,^  a  deputation  of 
Pharisees  —  priests  and  levites  —  was  sent  from 
Jerusalem  to  ask  John:  "Who  art  thou?  Art  thou 
the  Christ?"  —  "No,"   he  replied  without  hesita- 

1  Daniel,  IX,  23:   "Vir  desideriorum." 

2  Id.,  ibid.y  24:  "Ungatur  sauctus  sanctorum." 

3  According  to  the  calculation  of  Chevallier  (R^cits 
evangeliques,  p.  117).  We  should  rather  say  sometime  during 
February.  The  temperature  is  then  very  mild,  in  the  plain 
of  Jericho. 


1 84  THE  FRIKNDSKIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

tioii,  "I  am  not  the  Christ."  —  "Art  thou  Elias?'' 

—  "I  am  not."  —  "Art  thou  the  Propliet?"^  — 
And  he  answered:  "No."  Then  they  said  to  him: 
"Who  art  thou,  that  we  may  give  an  answer  to 
them  that  sent  us?    What  sayest  thou  of  thyself  ?" 

—  "I  am  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness: 
Make  straight  the  way  of  the  I^ord,  as  the  prophet 
Isaias  said.""^  —  "Why  then  dost  thou  baptise,  if 
thou  be  not  Christ,  nor  Klias,  nor  the  prophet?"— 
"I  baptise  in  water:  but  there  hath  stood  one  in 
the  midst  of  you,  whom  you  know  not.  The  same 
is  He  that  shall  come  after  me,  who  is  preferred 
before  me;  the  latchet  of  whose  shoe  I  am  not 
worthy  to  loose.  "^ 

The  messengers  of  the  Sanhedrin  withdrew, 
pondering  on  what  this  enigmatical  language 
could  mean,  and  resolved  to  keep  strict  watch  over 
the  Precursor.  It  was  clear  that  he  held  them  in 
aversion;  they  saw  in  him  an  enemy,  and  behind 
him  someone  more  powerful  still,  vv^lio  would  be 
the   cause   of  their   approaching  downfall.      This 

1  Cf.  Deuter.,  XVIII,  15 ;  —  Act.,  Ill,  22,  and  VII,  37.  — 
Some  people  believed  that  this  propliet  was  Knocli  come  to 
life  again.  (Cf.  Genes.,  V,  24;  —  Eccles.,  XI^IV,  16;  — 
Hebr.,  XI,  5 ;  —  Apoc,  XI,  3.) 

2  Isai.,  XL,  3.  —  This  is  rather  a  reference  than  a  quota- 
tion.    (Cf.  Isai.,  LVII,  14,  and  LXII,  10.) 

3  John,  I,  19-28.  —  This  allusion  to  the  strings  of  the 
shoes  will  perhaps  astonish  those  who  may  have  seen  the 
Orientals  dragging  their  loose  slippers  along  the  ways  of 
Asia  Minor  and  Palestine.  But  one  still  finds  in  certain 
regions  the  sandal  tied  above  the  ankle,  b}^  a  regular  thong 
of  leather  with  a  knot  sufficiently  complicated  to  explain 
the  intervention  of  a  servant.  The  shoe  is  adapted  for  trav- 
elling, and  the  loose  slipper  to  a  sedentary  life. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  185 

straigliteniiig  of  the  ways  of  the  Lord  aimed  at 
their  intrigues,  doubtless  already  understood  by 
this  mysterious  censurer,  whose  very  name  they 
knew  not,  even  though  he  lived  in  their  midst,  as 
inaccessible  as  if  he  were  invisible,  to  judge  of  him 
by  the  humble  veneration  of  the  Baptist.^  Who 
could  this  redresser  of  wrongs  be?  A  prophet, 
about  whom  the  popular  imagination  was  occupied 
with  more  or  less  reason?  Elias,  whose  re- 
appearance, it  was  said,  was  near  at  hand?  The 
Christ  Himself,  whose  time  had  nearly  come? 
What  did  it  matter  ?  Their  own  day  was  over, 
and  the  warnings  of  John  were  the  knell  of  their 
last  hour.  Were  they  satisfied  to  give  up  their 
prestige  without  striving  to  maintain  the  least 
portion  of  it  ?  The  future  should  prove  that  their 
thoughts  were  very  different. 

The  following  day,  the  confessor  experienced 
the  joy  which  he  had  so  ardently  desired.  Jesus 
came  to  him  !  A  cry  escaped  his  lips  !  "Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God;  behold  Him  who  taketh  away 
the  sins  of  the  world!  This  is  He  of  whom  I  said: 
After  me  cometh  a  man,  who  is  preferred  before 
me,  because  He  was  before  me.  And  I  knew  Him 
not:  but  that  He  may  be  made  manifest  in  Israel, 
therefore  am  I  come  baptising  in  water.  I  saw  the 
Spirit  coming  down  as  a  dove  from  heaven,  and 
He  remained  upon  Him.  And  I  knew  Him  not: 
but  He  who  sent  me  to  baptise  in  water  said  to  me: 
He  upon  whom  thou  shalt  see  the  Spirit  descend- 

1  Mark,  I,  7 :  "Cujus  non  sum  dignus  procumbens  solvere 
corrigiam  calceameutorum  ejus." 


1 86  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

iiig,  and  remaining  on  Him,  He  it  is  that  baptisetli 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  I  saw;  and  I  gave 
testimony  that  this  is  the  Son  of  God  !  ^ 

The  crowd  listened,  but  did  not  understand; 
the  hour  was  not  yet  propitious.  On  the  following 
day,  when  John  was  speaking  familiarly  to  two 
of  his  disciples,  Jesus  passed  by,  and  the  Baptist 
exclaimed  as  before:  "Behold  the  lyamb  of  God!" 
This  time  he  succeeded:  the  two  disciples  at  once 
followed  Jesus,  who,  perceiving  them,  said,  "What 
seek  you?"  —  "Master,  where  dwellest  thou?" 
—  "Come,  and  see!""^ 

They  accompanied  Him  to  His  retreat  and 
remained  with  Him  for  the  rest  of  the  day:  it  was 
about  the  tenth  hour,  that  is  to  say,  four  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  according  to  our  computation. 
They  resolved  never  to  leave  Him,  and  becoming 
the  first  fruits  of  His  ministry,  they  strove  at  once 
to  bring  others  to  Him,  who  would  be  faithful. 
Andrew  called  his  brother  Simon:  John  ran  to  seek 
his  brother  James,  —  both  spoke  the  same  words, 
^ 'We  have  found  the  Messiah! ' '^  Simon  and  James, 
and  soon  after,  Bartholomew,  joined  them,  to 
follow  the  footsteps  of  Jesus,  thus  becoming  the 
foundation  of  the  Church.  John  could  now  rejoice 
at  the  fulfilment  of  his  mission;  he  had  pointed  out 
the  Messiah  to  the  world,  and  had  initiated  His 
Kingdom.  The  task  allotted  to  the  Precursor  did 
not  go  further. 

1  Johu,  I,  29-35. 

2  Id.,  ibid,  38-39. 

3  John,  I,  41:    "Invenimus  Messiam." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  jESUS.  187 

Jesus  went  on  His  way  to  Nazareth;  but  He 
was  never  again  to  come  in  contact  with  the  Bap- 
tist, although  the  latter  also  reascended  the  Jordan 
to  establish  himself  at  Salim,  almost  on  the  frontiers 
of  Galilee.^  Before  the  Master  visited  Samaria, 
the  Servant  had  rendered  Him  the  supreme 
testimony  of  his  blood,  behind  the  walls  of 
Machserus.^ 

Herod  Antipas  lived  usually  at  Tiberias, ^  the 
town  which  had  been  rebuilt  by  him  in  honour  of 
Tiberius, "^  and  which  became  one  of  the  most 
charming  and  splendid  cities  of  Syria.  Perched 
on  the  borders  of  the  lake  of  Genezareth  (to  which 
it  sometimes  gives  its  name)''^,  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  smiling-  hills,  in  the  midst  of  verdure  and 
flowers,^  it  was  the  rendezvous  of  all  the  volupt- 
uous cosmopolitans  by  whom  Palestine  had  been 
polluted  since  the  coming  of  tlie  Herods.  The  Jews 
never  entered  it,^  particularly  the  Rabbis  and 
Pharisees,  and  the  people  who  lived  there  were  all 
strangers,  even  in  tlieir  appearance.  They  had 
baths,  a  stadium,  porticos,  statues,  all  in  imitation 
of  Rome,  and  the  monarch  was  surrounded  with  a 

^  In  Samaria. — S.  Hieron.,  De  loc.  hebr.,  and  De  notnin. 
hebr.  —  Cf.  Burchard,  pars  I,  c.  VII,  25. 

2  Josephus,  Aiitiq.,  XVIII,  V.  2. 

3  Now  Tabariyeh,  between  Migdal  (Magdala),  to  the 
North,  and  Kerac  (Tarichee),  to  the  South. 

4  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  XVIII,  11,  3. 

5  John,  VI.  1,  and  23. 

6  The  Orientals  place  on  this  spot  one  of  the  numerous 
paradises  of  their  legends. 

'    Talmud  of  Jerus.,  Schebouothy  IX,  1. 


1 88  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

pagan  siDlendour  which  was  offensive  to  all  national 
and  religious  sentiment. 

But  what  shocked  the  eyes  and  the  minds  of  the 
people  most,  was  the  incestuous  and  adulterous 
union  of  Antipas  and  his  niece,  —  the  wife  of  his 
brother  Philip,^  whom  several  years  before,  he  had 
carried  off  and  married,  in  spite  of  every  law.  If 
he  had  still  a  remnant  of  shame  left,  she  preserved 
no  circumspection,  and  the  audacity  of  the  scandal 
added  to  its  enormity.  At  Jerusalem,  it  was  said^, 
cautious  murmurs  assailed  the  guilty  pair  when 
they  went  to  the  Temple  for  the  great  feasts,  but 
at  Tiberias  no  one  would  have  dared  to  risk  a  sign 
of  disapprobation.  John  the  Baptist  took  upon 
himself  to  avenge  the  public  conscience,  and  the 
king  meeting  him  on  his  way,  perhaps  in  the 
character  of  a  proselyte  more  or  less  .sincere,  the 
Precursor  hurled  in  his  face  the  heroic  protestation: 
"It  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  have  thy  brother's 
wife!"  3 

Herod,  trembling  with  rage  and  shame,  ordered 
the  arrest  of  the  prophet,  without,  however,  mak- 
ing an  attempt  on  his  life,  on  account  of  the 
people,*  and  perhaps  also  because  of  the  admiration 
which  he  shared  with  them.      No  doubt  there  was 

1  Herod  Philip,  son  of  the  second  Mariamne,  and  fourth 
son  of  Herod  the  Great.  He  must  not  be  confounded  with 
Philip,  son  of  Cleopatra,  born  several  years  after  Herod  Anti- 
pas,  and  who  was  tetrarch  of  Iturea. 

2  Cf.  Renan,  Vie  de  Jesus,  etc. 

^  Matth.,  XIV,  4:  "Nou  licet  tibi  habere  uxorem 
fratris  tui." 

4    Josephus,  Eell.  Jud.,  VII,  VI,  1-2. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  1 89 

more  fear  than  sympathy  in  this  admiration. 
Antipas  was  more  superstitious  then  sceptical,  and 
having  little  more  of  faith  than  of  morals,  he 
dreaded,  nevertheless,  the  vengeance  of  the  God 
in  whom  he  did  not  believe.  So  he  contented 
himself,  after  the  clandestine  arrest,^  with  taking 
precautions  against  any  attempt  at  a  rescue,  by 
sending  the  prisoner  to  the  castle  of  Machasrus^, 
an  inaccessible  and  gloomy  fortress  built  by  the 
Asmoneans  on  the  torrent  of  Zerga-Ma'in,  in  the 
mountains  to  the  east  of  the  Dead  Sea.  John  the 
Baptist  was  kept  there  under  strict  supervision  S; 
but  he  could  receive  the  visits  of  his  disciples  and 
continue  among  them  a  ministry  which  was 
formidable,  in  the  opinion  of  Herod,  only  when 
exercised  in  public.  All  fear  of  a  sedition  averted, 
he  was  indifferent  to  everything  else,  and  even 
took  pleasure  in  discoursing  with  his  captive,  of 
whom  he  willingly  took  counsel  on  certain 
occasions.^ 

But  it  happened  that  the  fidelity  of  the  disciples 
of  John  to  their  unfortunate  master  engendered  a 

1  What  the  words  "Traditus  est  Joannes"  indicate, 
seems  to  suppose  an  act  of  treason.  According  to  Sepp  this 
should  have  taken  place  on  the  27th  of  May.  (Vie  de  J. — C, 
t.  II,  p.  38.) 

2  Or  Macherous  {^M' Kami,  in  Arabic). — The  Jews  called 
it  the  Black  Castle  or  the  Furnace,  on  account  of  the  colour 
of  the  earth,  burnt  by  the  sun.  According  to  Josephus,  it 
was  the  strongest  place  in  Palestine,  after  Jerusalem. 

3  Matth.,  XI,  2 ;  —  Mark,  VI,  17  ;  —  Luke,  III,  20. 

4  Mark,  VI,  20:  "Audito  eo  multa  faciebat,  et  libenter 
eum  audiebat." 


190  THK  FRiENDvSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

spite  against  the  ever-increasing  success  of  Jesus  \ 
and  tlie  conversations  of  Machserus  soon  proved  to 
the  Precursor  the  necessity  of  a  further  testimony 
in  favour  of  the  Messiah.  This  time,  therefore, 
he  v/ished  to  give  Him  a  character  more  solemn 
and  more  efficacious.  By  his  order,  two  of  his 
followers  —  perhaps  the  two  most  perverse  —  asked 
Jesus  this  singular  question:  "Art  thou  He  that 
art  to  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another?"  Jesus 
at  this  tim.e  had  worked  several  miracles,  and  see- 
ing the  intention  of  the  Precursor,  replied:  "Go 
and  relate  to  John  what  you  have  heard  and  seen. 
The  blind  see,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are 
cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  rise  again,  the 
poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  tliem :  And 
blessed  is  he  that  shall  not  be  scandalised  in  me.-  " 
It  is  easy  to  understand  what  these  messengers 
felt,  but  the  strangeness  of  their  proceeding  miglit 
have  injured  the  prestige  of  John  in  tlie  estimation 
of  his  disciples,  and  Jesus  wished  to  efface  this 
unfavourable  im.pression  at  once.  Therefore  He 
said  to  the  multitude:  "What  went  ye  out  into  the 
desert  to  see?  A  reed  shaken  with  the  wind  ?  .  .  . 
A  man  clothed  in  soft  garments?  Behold,  they 
that  are  clothed  in  soft  garments  are  in  the  houses 
of  kings.  But  what  went  ye  out  to  see  ?  A 
prophet  ?  .  .  .  Yea,  I  tell  you  :  and  m.ore  than  a 
prophet.  For  this  is  he  of  v/liom  it  is  vv^ritten  : 
Behold,  I  send  my  Angel  before  thy  face,  who  shall 

1  Meschler,  Meditations  stir  la  vie  de  Jesus- Christ,  p.  402. 
—  Cf.  Matth.,  IX,  14;  —  Mark,  II,  18 ;  —John,  III,  26. 

2  Matth.,  XI,  2-G ;  —  Luke,  VII,  18-24. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JP^SUS.  I9I 

prepare  thy  way  before  thee.  Amen  I  say  to  you, 
there  hath  not  risen  among  them  that  are  born  of 
women  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist!"  ^  At  this 
striking  testimony,  the  mukitude,  among  whom 
could  be  seen  several  publicans  who  had  been 
baptised  by  the  Precursor,  burst  forth  into  praises 
of  God;  while  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes,  scofhng 
at  this  baptism,  refused  to  understand  the  final 
words  of  Jesus:  "Yet  he  that  is  least  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  greater  than  John  the  Baptist.^" 

No  more  glorious  crown  could  encircle  the  brow 
of  any  mortal  upon  earth  ;  but  glory  sometimes 
costs  dearly,  and  the  more  estimable  it  is,  the 
greater  the  price  paid  for  it.  The  Baptist  was 
about  to  experience  this  truth. 

Herodias  longed  for  his  death,  and  never  ceased 
by  intrigue  to  obtain  her  desire.^  Antipas  resisted, 
not  that  the  shedding  of  blood  frightened  him,  but 
that  he  feared  a  popular  outburst,  as  we  have 
already  said.  The  strength  of  Machserus,  with 
its  impregnable  defences,  reassured  him  a  little, 
and  it  was  easy  to  foresee  the  day  when  the  mach- 
inations of  this  abandoned  woman  would  triumph 
over  the  objections  of  her  accomplice.  This  ac- 
cursed day  was  the  tenth  of  the  month  of  Ab*, 
a  sorrowful  date  in  the  Jewish  calendar,  because  it 
recalled  to  the  people  the  malediction  pronounced 
in   the    desert    against    those    who,    coming  from 

>  Matth.,  XI,  7-12 ;  —  lyuke,  VII,  24-29. 

2  Matth.,  XI,  11 ;  —  I.uke,  VII,  28. 

2  Mark,  VI,  19. 

"^  Sepp,  Vie  de  Jesus-Christ,  t.  II,  p.  102. 


192  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Kgypt,  should  never  enter  the  Promised  L^and,^  — 
and  also,  because  on  the  same  day  Nabuchodonosor 
had  destroyed  the  Temple  of  Solomon. "  If  the 
contemporaries  of  Herod  and  John  the  Baptist 
could  have  read  the  future,  they  would  have  been 
able  to  add  to  these  misfortunes  a  greater  still,  the 
final  ruin  of  Israel.  It  was  on  the  loth  of  the 
month  of  Ab,  in  fact,  that  Titus  was  to  set  fire  to 
the  Sanctuary  of  Jerusalem  to  expiate  the  deicide, 
in  the  desolation  predicted  by  Daniel.^ 

But  this  day  of  mourning  for  true  Israelites  was 
to  Herod  a  day  of  joy,  because  on  it  he  celebrated 
the  anniversary  of  his  accession  to  power, '^  or  that 
of  his  birth,  to  take  literally  the  expression  of  the 
Gospel.^  Therefore  he  assembled  in  his  palace  of 
Machcerus  the  principal  state  officials,  the  chief 
officers  of  his  army,  and  the  nobles  of  Galilee. 
During  the  banquet,  the  guests  v/ere  given  the 
surprise  of  an  uncommon  interlude  instead  of  the 
entertainment  usually  provided^;  it  was  the  en- 
trance of  Salome,  the  daughter  of  Herodias,  to 
dance  for  them.  Perhaps  slie  wished  to  show  that 
she  had  been  educated  like  the  Romans,  and  could 
rival  the  patricians,  whose  refined  corruption  Cicero 


1  Num.,  XIV,  22-23. 

2  II,  Paral.,  XXXVI,  19. 

3  Daniel,  IX,  26-27.      . 

*  CI.  Nov.  Testam.  ex  Tahnude,  p.  90. 

5  Matth.,  XIV,  6 ;  —  Mark,  VI,  21. 

6  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  XII,  4. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  193 

ridiculed.^  Youug,  beautiful,  seductive, ^  she  com- 
pelled their  approbation;  and  the  king,  scarcely 
conscious  of  what  he  did,  said  to  her,  as  Assuerus 
of  old  said  to  Esther,  "Ask  of  me  what  thou  wilt: 
whatsoever  thou  shalt  ask  I  will  give  thee,  though 
it  be  the  half  of  my  kingdom."^ 

It  was  customary  for  Eastern  monarchs  to 
commit  those  acts  of  imprudence,  when  the  wine 
had  gone  to  their  heads,  to  quote  the  expression  of 
the  Scripture*  They  sometimes  repented  them, 
without  having  the  resource  of  Assuerus,  because 
their  orders,  when  obeyed,  brought  irreparable 
consequences.  It  was  thus  with  Herod's  promise. 
The  young  girl  at  once  took  counsel  with  her 
mother.  "What  shall  I  ask?"  The  reply  had 
long  been  ready:  "The  head  of  John  the  Baptist!'^ 
Without  even  dreaming  of  the  enormity  of  such  an 
act,  Salome  re-entered  the  banquet  hall  and  said 
insolently:  "I  will  that  forthwith  thou  give  me  in 
a  dish,  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist."^ 

i  Cicero,  Pro  Murena,  VI.  —  M.  Renau  does  not  admii: 
that  this  was  anything  but  a  dance  of  a  grave  character  (Vie 
de  Jesus,  c.  XI) ;  but  his  opinion  is  of  no  value  among  those 
who  know  the  East  and  ancient  customs.  —  Cf.  Schol.,  Bob,, 
p.  Sext.,  p.  304. 

2  Visconti  (Iconographie  grecque,  Supplement, — planche 
47,  no.  12)  has  preserved  for  us  a  little  bronze  medal  of  Sa- 
lome. The  head  is  turned  to  the  left,  the  figure  is  pleasing, 
and  of  a  strongly  marked  Jewish  type. 

^  Esther,  VII,  1-2:  "Etiamsi  dimidiam  partem  regni  raei 
petieris,  impetrabis." 

■*     Id.,  ibid.,%:  "Postquam  vino  incaluerat." 

^  Mark,  VI,  25:  '^Vo/o  ut  protinus  des  mihi  in  disco 
caput  Joannis  Baptistae."  vS.  Matthew  (XIV,  8)  is  still  more 
precise  :   "cD5e  —  even  here  in  this  dish." 


194  ^^^  FRIKNDSHIPvS  O'^  JESUS. 

The  head  of  a  man  was  of  little  value  in  the 
eyes  of  these  eastern  tyrants,  and  the  abominable 
request  of  Herodias  did  not  surprise  men  who  were 
accustomed  to  shed  blood  at  random.^  On  this 
occasion,  however,  Antipas  hesitated  for  a  moment 
and  became  troubled:  the  head  she  demanded  was 
too  valuable  for  the  hands  of  this  child  !  Nobility, 
genius,  sanctity,  —  must  he  cut  down  all  this  in 
its  full  development,  at  the  imminent  risk  of  in- 
censing the  people,  Rome  also  perhaps,  and,  who 
knows  ?  —  the  God,  of  whom  John  the  Baptist 
spoke  so  powerfully  ?  The  anxious  eyes  of  the 
king  turned  from  Salome  to  the  assembled  guests, 
as  if  to  seek  their  intervention,  but  no  one  dared 
to  take  the  responsibility.  Royal  inebriates  had 
strange  ways  of  proceeding,  and  the  wisest  course 
was  to  leave  them  a  free  field.  Doubtless,  some 
thought  of  the  cunning  rage  of  the  drunken  poten- 
tate of  whom  the  Psalmist  S2)eaks,^  others,  of  the 
legendary  transports  of  Alexander,^  and  none  were 
inclined  to  incur  the  anger  of  the  prince,  or  the 
resentment  of  his  adviser. 

However,  Salome  stamped  her  foot,  and  the 
rings  of  her  anklets  tinkled,  as  if  to  remind  him  of 
his  pledged  faith,  while  her  eyes  seemed  to  count 

^  They  had  usually  near  them  chaouchSy  or  executioners, 
to  carry  out  their  sentences,  —  "spiculatores  .  .  .  qui  nudato 
gladio  hominum  amputaut  cervices"  (Jul.  Firmicus,  VIII,  28, 
ap.  Forcellini,  Vo.  Spiculator). 

2  Psalm,  I^XXVII,  65:  "Kxcitatus  .  .  .  tanquam  potens 
carpulatus  a  vino  et  percussit  inimicos  suos  in  posteriora." 

3  Quintus  Curtius,  Vita  Alexandria  lib.  VIII.— Plutarch 
Arrien,  De  Expedit.  Alexandria  lib.  IV. 


THK  FRIENDvSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  I95 

tlie  witnesses  of  his  promise.  Herod  had  not  the 
courage  to  retract  his  oath,  as  nnich  on  her  account 
as  through  human  respect,  and  he  issued  the  fatal 
order.  One  of  th.e  executioners  left  the  room, 
which  he  soon  re-entered,  carrying  on  a  dish  of 
agate  the  bleeding  head  of  the  martyr.^ 

Salome  took  it  from  his  hands,  and  brought  it 
to  her  mother.-  The  Gospel  throws  a  veil  over 
the  scene  which  followed,  but  the  memory  of  which 
tradition  has  preserved.  The  odious  woman  had 
letters,  and  remembered  her  journey  to  Rome,  the 
voluptuous  and  cruel  world,  whitlier  she  had  gone 
to  plead  the  cause  of  her  associate.  Fulvia,  the 
worthy  spouse  of  Mark  Anthony,  had  taken  the 
bleeding  head  of  Cicero  on  her  knees,  and  had 
pierced  the  tongue  with  a  hair-pin.  Not  content 
with  piercing  tlie  tongue  of  the  Precursor  with  a 
golden  bodkin,^  Herodias  would  also,  perhaps, 
have  staved  in  his  eyes,  and  she  struck  him,  on  the 
forehead,  a  blow  violent  enough  to  leave  its  trace 
after  eighteen  centuries.*  Useless  sacrilege!  The 
siglitless  eyes  pursued  her  v/ith  their  threatening 
glance,  and  through  the  palace  echoed  the  merci- 
less words:   ''Non  licet!     It  is  not  lawful !"''' 

i  This  dish  is  preserved  at  Genoa  (V.  Tvettres  d'un  pele- 
rin,  t.  1.,  p.  127). 

-     Mark,  VI,  28. 

2     S.  Hieron,  In  Rufin,,  III,  11 

^  As  may  be  seen  on  the  relic  preserved  in  the  Cathedral 
at  Amiens. 

^  The  arabic  tradition,  verified  by  the  Koran,  would 
imply  even  that  the  lips  of  the  illustrious  dead  opened-,  before 
Herod  and  his  accomplice  to  cry  out  again  :   "Non  licet." 


196  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

The  disciples  of  John  took  his  mortal  remains, 
and  in  secret  rendered  him  the  last  tribute  of 
respect.  1  About  this  time,  Jesus  said  to  the  apos- 
tles,—  in  reply  to  the  question:  "Why  then  do  the 
Scribes  say  that  Klias  must  come  first?"  —  "Klias 
indeed  shall  come  and  restore  all  things.  But  I  say 
to  you  that  Elias  is  already  come;  and  they  knew 
liim  not,  but  have  done  unto  him  whatsoever  they 
had  a  mind.  So  also  the  Son  of  Man  shall  suffer 
from  them.''  ^ 

And  when  the  disciples  of  the  Precursor  came, 
bringing  the  news  of  his  death,  the  apostles  under- 
stood that  Jesus  had  spoken  of  him.^  Besides,  it 
was  not  the  first  time  that  the  names  of  Elias  and 
the  Baptist  had  been  united  on  the  Saviour's  lips. 
At  the  close  of  His  interview  with  the  deputies 
from  Machserus,  He  had  already  said,  in  speaking 
of  the  illustrious  captive:  "He  is  Elias  that  is  to 
come."^  Not  that  He  gave  him  the  personality  of 
Elias,  as  is  supposed  by  the  uninitiated,  but  because 
there  was  in  him  the  spirit  and  power  of  the 
prophet,  as  Gabriel  had  foretold  to  Zachary.^ 

There  dwelt  also  in  the  soul  of  John  the  humble 
affection  so  suddenly  developed  at  their  first  meet- 

1  Matth.,  XIV,  12.  —  According  to  Nicepliorus,  Hist., 
lib.  1,  c.  9,  the  relics  of  St.  John  were  taken  to  vSebaste,  but 
the  head  remained  some  time  at  Machserus,  from  whence  it 
was  taken  by  Herodias  to  Jerusalem.  It  was  found,  at  the 
time  of  Constantine,  in  the  ruins  of  the  Asmonean  palace.  — 
(vSozomenus,  Hist,  eccles.,  lib.  VII,  c.  21.) 

2  Matth.,  XVII,  10-12 ;  —  Mark,  IX,  10-12. 

3  Matth.,  XIV,  12;  —  XVII,  13. 

*     Matth.,  XI,  14:   "Ipse  est  Elias  qui  venturus  est." 
^     Luke,  I,  17:   "In  spiritu  et  virtute  Eliae." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  I97 

ino-,  as  ill  the  inorning  a  flower  opens  its  petals 
under  the  feet  of  the  traveller.  It  was  not  the  tie 
of  kinship  that  drew  them  together,  but  the  revela- 
tion of  their  souls  and  of  their  destinies  united 
them  in  an  embrace,  in  which  respect  and  love 
contended  for  the  mastery,  as  in  the  meeting 
between  Elizabeth  and  Mary.  The  son  and  the 
mother  seem  to  have  been  agreed  as  to  the  form  of 
salutation  on  the  approach  of  their  divine  Friend. 
—  "And  whence  is  this  to  me,  that  the  mother  of 
my  lyord  should  come  to  me  ?"  said  Elizabeth.  — 
"I  ought  to  be  baptised  by  thee;  and  comest  thou 
to  me?"  said  John  the  Baptist.  They  both  felt 
themselves  prophetically  enlightened  by  love,  and 
thereby  rendered  Him  the  greater  homage.  — 
"Since  He  is  come,"  concluded  the  Precursor, 
"I  have  nothing  to  do  but  disappear,  for  He  must 
increase,  but  I  must  decrease."^  —  To  which  the 
Master  replied:  "There  hath  not  risen  among  them 
that  are  born  of  women  a  greater  than  John  the 
Baptist!"^  The  commendation  is  beyond  all 
conception,  and  yet  Saint  Brigitt  has  gathered 
from  the  lips  of  Jesus-Christ  a  praise  that  is  rarer 
still:  "John  is  my  friend!"^  —  And  was  not  this 
his  rightful  title,  since  he  had  given  the  proof, 
par  excellence,  of  his  love  —  "to  lay  down  his 
life  for  his  friend"  7^ 

1  John,    III,    30:     "Ilium    oportet    crescere,    me    aiitem 
minui." 

2  Matth.,  XI,   11:    "Non   surrexit   inter   natos  mulierum 
major  Joanne  Baptista."  —  Cf.  Luke,  VII,  28. 

3  S.  Brigitt.   Revelat.,  lib.  VI. 

4  John,  XV,  13:   "Majorem  hac  diiectionem  nemo  habet 
ut  animam  suam  ponat  quis  proamicis  guis." 


198  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

On  the  confines  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  figure 
of  the  Baptist  stands  forth  like  one  of  those  majestic 
cohimns  in  the  east  that  survive  the  surrounding 
ruin.  In  the  deep  azure  and  brilliant  light,  the 
monolith  assumes  gigantic  proportions ;  in  the 
distance  it  seems  to  unite  heaven  and  earth,  and 
one  expects  to  see  above,  resting  on  its  j^innacle, 
the  God  of  Jacob,  smiling  at  the  turmoil  among 
the  human  dust  that  the  wind  stirs  at  its  base. 
When  night  comes,  the  feet  of  the  colossus  are 
steeped  in  gloom,  the  stars  trace  their  glittering 
circles  round  its  head,  as  diamonds  set  in  a  tiara, 
and  the  mind  instinctively  begins  to  muse  on  the 
star-crowned  chief  to  whom  the  Master  addressed, 
in  the  presence  of  His  angels,  the  salutation 
gathered  from  his  lips  by  Brigitt:  "This  is  John 
the  Baptist,  My  Precursor  and  My  Friend!" 


Chapter  VI. 

The  Fatherland  of  Jesus=Christ. 

And  coming  into  His  own  country, 
he  taught  them. 

Matth.,  Xin,  54. 

Patriotism  is  a  part  of  the  emotional  life,  and  it 
would  be  to  ns  a  matter  of  surprise,  if  the  love  of 
His  country  had  no  place  in  the  heart  of  Jesus- 
Christ.  However,  coming  upon  earth  to  effect 
unity  among  all  men,  and  to  substitute  for  their 
restricted  notions  of  nationality,  the  idea  —  vast  as 
the  world  and  time  —  of  a  humanity  which  con- 
sidered neither  Jews  nor  Gentiles,  Greeks  nor 
barbarians,^  —  He  seems  to  some  minds  not  to  have 
confined  His  love  within  the  limits  laid  down  by 
Jewish  patriotism,  in  the  first  century  of  our  era. 
Here  we  have  a  confusion  of  ideas  easy  to  dissipate, 
if  we  would  but  distinguish  between  the  personality 
and  the  mission  of  Jesus-Christ.  By  His  person- 
ality. He  was  a  citizen  of  a  certain  country,  having 
sentiments  and  duties  which  He  had  no  wish  to 
disavow,  since  He  recognised  His  obligation  to 
fulfil  all  justice. 2  His  mission  made  Him,  beyond 
any  doubt,  the  man  of  all  time,  of  all  races,  of  all 
countries,  —  but  only  under  the  aspect  of  His 
vocation  to  the  supernatural  life,  or  the  kingdom 

1  Coloss.,  Ill,  11:  "Ubi  uon  est  gentilis  et  Judaeus,  etc." 
—  Cf.  Rom.,  I,  14. 

2  Pvlatth.,  Ill,  15:  "Decet  nos  implere  otnnefn  justitiam.^^ 

(199) 


200  THE  I^^RIENDSHIPS  OF^  JESUS. 

of  God  ill  souls,  to  which  neither  the  thought,  nor  the 
love  of  country  are  op^^osed,  in  those  who  accept 
the  Gospel.-^  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  best  guar- 
antee of  right  principles  and  honourable  practices, 
—  as  well  as  the  best  safeguard  against  error  and 
superstition.  The  apostle,  resembling  his  divine 
Master,  in  the  zeal  with  which  he  embraces  all 
souls,  is  none  the  less  the  loving  and  devoted  son 
of  his  country,  and  his  preaching,  far  from  wound- 
ing the  national  sentiment  of  the  people  to  whom 
he  is  sent,  renders  it  more  lively  and  effectual, 
while  rectifying  its  prejudices  and  moderating  its 
ardour.^ 

Experience  teaches  us  that  the  saints,  the  most 
perfect  disciples  of  the  Gospel,  have  been  the  most 
ardent  and  devoted  of  patriots,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  most  indefatigable  champions  of  Christian 
ideas.  There  is,  then,  no  real  opposition  between 
the  doctrine  of  catholic  unity  and  patriotism,  even 
in  the  most  restricted  sense  of  the  word;  that  is  to 
say,  with  reference  only  to  the  love  which  every 
man  can,  and  ought  to  feel  for  the  place  of  his 
birth,  and  for  the  companions  of  his  daily  toil. 

Nor  is  there  anything  offensive  in  the  exclusive- 
ness  which  characterises  some  of  the  Master's 
words,  —  for  instance,  when  He  says  to  the 
Apostles:  "Go  not  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  into  the  cities  of  the  Samaritans  enter  not: 
But   go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 

^     Ivacordaire,  Disc,  sur  la  vocation  de  la  natio7i  fran^aise . 

-  Nothing  is  more  curious  tliau  modem  theories  ou  this 
subject.  (Cf.  in  particular  Tolstoi:  V Esprit  chretiefi  et  le 
pafriotisnie.) 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  20I 

Israel."^  —  And  again,  when  He  speaks  of  Him- 
self, "I  was  not  sent  but  to  the  sheep  that  are  lost 
of  the  house  of  Israel,"'^  which  seems  effectually  to 
exclude  even  the  most  willing  souls  among  the 
Gentiles,  to  restrict  His  ministry  to  His  own 
nation,  although  the  Apostles  themselves  had  inter- 
ceded in  favour  of  foreigners.  One  feels  that  this 
exclusiveness  was  the  result  of  the  esteem  in  which 
He  held  the  privileged  people,  from  tvhom  salva- 
tion should  go  forth,  to  Samaria  and  the  rest  of 
the  world, 3  —  that  He  should,  consequently,  serve 
them  first,  to  make  of  their  glory  a  light  to  the 
revelation  of  the  Gentiles."* 

In  that,  Jesus  seems  to  have  been  of  the  same 
mind  as  His  compatriots,  in  whose  eyes  the  land 
of  Israel  was  holij,  and  whose  people  were  the 
chosen  of  God  for  the  bestowal  of  blessings  which 
would  benefit  the  Avorld  through  their  agency. 
Had  we  discovered  but  this  one  characteristic.  His 
life  would  seem  to  us  in  perfect  harmony  with  all 
we  know  of  His  surroundings  and  of  His  time. 

Never  was  a  country  so  loved  as  this  corner  of 
the  earth,  so  despised  by  the  chosen  spirits  of 
Greece   and   Rome,^  after  having  been  so  cruelly 

1  Matth.,  X,  5-6:  "In  viarn  gentium  ue  abieritis  et  in 
civitates  Samaritanoruni  ne  intraveritis,  sed  potius  ad  oves 
quae  perierunt  domns  Israel." 

2  Matth.,  XV,  24:  "Non  sum  missus  nisi  ad  oves  quae 
perierunt  domus  Israel." 

3  John,  IV,  22:  "Quia  salus  ex  Jud^eis  est." 

^     Luke,  II,   32:    "Lumen    ad   revelationem   gentium  et 
gloriam  plebis  tuae  Israel." 
5     Cf.  Cicero,  Tacitus,  etc. 


202  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

trampled  u^^on  by  the  invasions  of  Egypt  and 
Assyria.  The  Bible  is,  properly  speaking,  but  a 
patriotic  hymn,  in  which  tender  strains  blend  with 
enthusiastic  chants,  and  cries  of  sorrow.  The 
Jewish  people,  alone,  among  the  ancients,  have 
given  a  soul  to  their  country.  Israel  and  Sion  are 
to  them  living,  tangible  beings,  whose  heart  throbs 
beneath  the  touch,  whose  voice  strikes  upon  the 
ear,  who  rejoice  and  weej),  who  sink  in  death  and 
rise  again,  as  a  strong  man  or  a  tender  virgin,  in 
the  reality  of  their  actual  or  future  life.  Before 
settling  in  the  Promised  Land,  the  sons  of  Abra- 
ham aspired  thereto  with  a  desire  that  nothing 
weakened  ;  the  riches  of  Egypt,  placed  at  their 
disposal  by  Joseph  and  the  Pharaos,  did  not  change 
their  intention;  the  sufferings  of  the  march  through 
the  desert  did  not  destroy  their  hopes;  the  divisions 
which  separated  the  tribes,  did  not  weaken  the 
love  they  bore  it;  their  wanderings  were  prolonged, 
but  these  did  not  efface  its  image;  the  conquests 
which  enslaved  it  from  Alexander  to  Pompey,  and 
the  tyrannies  which  were  the  outcome  of  these 
conquests,  only  resulted  in  rendering  it  dearer  and 
more  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  all.  The  brightness  of 
happy  days,  and  the  shadow  of  bad  ones  made  it 
also  appear  cheerful  in  their  sunshine,  and  sad  in 
their  gloom.  Athens  and  Rome  had  been  deified, 
but  their  images  had  no  real  life,  even  to  their 
most  fanatical  adorers.  Sion  never  usurped  the 
glory  of  the  one  God,  and  in  return  it  received 
from  Him,  and  communicated  to  the  country  which 
it  personified,    a    personal    life,    full    of    strength, 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  203 

grace,  and  expansion.  For  it,  heroism,  poetry, 
and  piety  worked  wonders,  which  one  feels  to  have 
been  the  outcome  of  love.  The  royal  bride  of  the 
Canticles^  did  not  receive  greater  praise,  was  not 
more  celebrated  in  song,  nor  adorned  and  crowned 
with  more  surpassing  beauty,  than  the  Virgin 
daugliter  of  Sion^~  the  beloved  of  Jehovah !  — 
Many  centuries  before  the  Trouveres  and  knights 
of  Frauce,  the  sons  of  Israel  had  invented  for  this 
other  "lady-love"  a  whole  language  at  once  sweet 
and  forcible,  which  has  no  equal  in  all  antiquity.^ 

Did  we  not  fear  to  weary  the  reader,  what 
beautiful  examples  might  we  not  borrow  from  the 
Psalms  of  David,  the  Canticles  of  Solomon,  the 
Prophecies  of  Isaias,  the  Lamentations  of  Jer- 
emiah, and  the  two  books  of  the  Machabees,  to 
sliovv^  to  Yv^hat  poetic  enthusiasm  this  language 
lends  itself,  so  different  from  that  which  the  most 
celebrated  of  the  Greek  or  Latiu  poets  speak!  But 
we  must  j)ass  on,  regretting,  like  the  lover  of  the 
Sulamite,  not  to  be  able  to  reveal  tJieir  hidden 
charm  ^ 

Aud,  let  not  this  flow  of  poetry  be  attributed  to 
of  eastern  imagination  !  We  should  seek  vainly 
for  anything  resembling  it  among  the  remains  of 

^  Cantic,  IV,  8:  "Veui  de  Libano,  spousa  inea  ,  .  .  core 
naberis  ..."  etc. 

2  IV  Reg.,  XIX,  21,  and  Isaias,  XXXVII,  22:  "Virgo, 
filia  Sion."  — Jerem.,  XIV,  17:  "Virgo,  filia  populi  mei,"  — 
and  XVIII,  13:  "Virgo  Israel."  —  Thren.,  I,  15:  "Virgini 
filiae  Juda." 

^     See  especially  the  Psalms  and  the  Prophecies. 

*     Cantic,  IV,  1:   "Absque  eo  quod  intrinsecus  latet." 


204  "THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Asiatic  literature,  from  tlie  primitive  to  the  most 
recent.  One  might  sing  elsewhere  than  on  the 
banks  of  the  Jordan  and  in  the  shadow  of  Thabor, 
of  limpid  streams  and  sunny  skies,  of  undulating 
hills  and  mountains  towering  into  eternal  silence: 
one  might  boast  elsewhere  than  on  the  shores  of 
Genezareth  and  the  plains  of  vSaron,  of  the  perfume 
of  the  vines,  the  brilliancy  of  the  roses,  the  fresh- 
ness of  the  verdure,  the  richness  of  the  harvests: 
one  might  celebrate  elsewhere  than  at  the  gates  of 
Jerusalem  and  in  the  courts  of  the  Temple,  the 
holiness  of  priests,  the  splendour  of  kings,  the 
valour  of  warriors,  the  beauty  of  virgins,  the  virtue 
of  wives  and  mothers  —  but  nowhere  does  one  find 
this  dominatins:  accent  of  love  and  veneration  for 
country.  Patriotism  is,  so  to  speak,  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Jev/ish  soul,  and  we  might  place  upon 
the  lips  of  the  ancient  Israelites  the  words  of  the 
modern  poet:  "Jerusalem,  thou  art  the  object  of 
all  my  thoughts,  of  all  my  aspirations,  of  all  my 
actions,  of  all  my  songs.  .  .  Thou  art  the  rose  ex- 
panding to  the  morning  light,  .  .  .  the  bird  that 
sings  in  the  deepening  twilight,  .  .  .  the  palm 
which  refreshes  the  pilgrim,  the  oasis  whence 
springs  the  living  water  to  slake  the  weary  trav- 
eller's thirst,  .  .  .  the  rainbow  of  peace,  the  dove 
that  bears  the  green  branch  of  hope.  .  ."^ 

To  consider  Jesus-Christ,  however,  merely  as 
a  Jew  of  the  first  century,  we  must  believe  Him  to 
have  been  animated  with  the  sentiments  of  His 
contemporaries,    as    He    had    received    the    same 

1     Louis  Willi,    West-ostlich  Schvalben. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  205 

education,  that  is  to  say,  submitted  to  the  same 
influences,  which  produced,  naturally,  the  same 
effects.  But  in  considering  His  superior  personal- 
ity^ —  His  mission  to  bring  about  uniformity  in 
beliefs  and  morals,  with  the  concurrence  of  His 
own  race  (according  to  the  word  spoken  to  the 
Samaritan  woman,  that  "the  salvation  of  the  world 
should  come  from  the  Jews"),  we  are  led  to 
attribute  to  Him  quite  another  esteem  and  love  for 
His  country  and  His  people.  Hereditary  patriotism 
gained  in  Him  all  that  an  actual  interest  could 
add  to  it,  even  though  other  circumstances  did  not 
yet  explain  its  development. 

In  nations  that  are  preserved  from  despondency 
by  solid  convictions,   misfortune  has  the  effect  of 
rousing  and  stimulating  patriotism.      Attempts  at 
reaction  against  tyranny,  or  efforts  for  the  expulsion 
of  the  stranger,    but  directly  result  in  frustrating 
the  desired  end.      There  remains,  however,  a  new 
impulse  given  to  ideas  of  liberty  and  independence, 
—  a  growing  impatience  of  the  yoke,  and  a  more 
active  pursuit  of  the  means  to  shake  it  off.    Country 
is  a  mother,  loved  all  the  more  when  she  is  un- 
happy; every  hour  of  mourning  renders  her  more 
venerable  and  more  worthy  of  being  served,  even 
with  the  last  drop  of  our  blood.      Galilee  groaned 
under  the  tyranny  of  the  Herods  and  their  Roman 
protectors;  the  zealots  incessantly  fomented  resist- 
ance, and  exposed  themselves  occasionally  to  most 
dangerous  adventures.      Should  not  Jesus  liave  felt 
the  reaction  of  these  agitations,  and  should  He  not 
have  experienced  an  increase  of  sympathy  with  the 


2o6  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

liuiiiiliations  and  sorrows  of  His  country?  Con- 
sequently, before  studying  His  mental  dispositions, 
we  should  pay  Him  the  honour  of  a  real  and  living 
patriotism,  like  all  true  sons  of  Israel. 

The  first  object  of  this  love,  the  country  itself, 
presented  various  aspects  throughout  Palestine, 
according  to  the  different  latitudes.  In  the  south, 
Judea,  rocky,  burnt,  and  arid,  except  on  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean,  the  borders  of  the  Jordan, 
and  some  parts  near  the  Dead  Sea.  In  the  north, 
Galilee,  smiling  and  fertile,  with  grassy  plains, 
verdant  mountains,  and  its  beautiful  lake,  abound- 
ing in  fish.  Between  the  two,  Samaria,  which 
shared  the  characteristics  of  both,  was  not  so  barren 
as  Judea,  but  less  charming  than  Galilee. 

Judea  still  retains  the  characters  which  formerly 
distinguished  it,  or  rather  it  accentuates  them,  now 
that  human  effort  does  not  thwart  nature.  The 
table-lands,  bare  now,  were  formerly  wooded; 
along  the  slopes,  loose  stone  terraces  guard  the 
earth  v/hich  the  rains  sv/ept  away ;  the  waters, 
carefully  regulated,  irrigate  the  gloomy  solitudes, 
and  the  vigilance  of  trie  shepherds  protects  the 
bush  and  shrubs  scattered  along  the  sides  of  the 
hills  and  by  the  torrents,  from  the  destructive 
herds.  However,  this  was  always  a  rough,  obsti- 
nate land,  a  surly  and  uneven  soil,  placed  by  the 
difficulty  of  its  access  be3^ond  the  reach  of  com- 
merce, and  skirted  only  by  the  route  which  ran 
along  the  coast  from  Egypt  to  Syria.  But  there 
was  a  wonderful  compensation  for  "this  austere 
barrenness"  .  .  .   which    gives    to   Judea    its    own 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  207 

peculiar  feature,  and  accords  so  well  with  the  char- 
acter of  its  people.  .  .  In  the  rocky  pasture  lands 
of  Judea,  on  the  summits  of  its  mountains,  the 
country  has  no  beauty  save  its  grandeur;  it  elevates 
the  poet's  thought,  without  interesting  the  eyes  of 
the  artist:  the  absence  of  details,  the  uniformity  of 
colour,  hinders  the  pleasures  of  sight;  the  eye  in- 
stinctively wanders  to  the  grand  celestial  horizons 
where  nothing  impedes  the  view,  towards  the  veil 
of  light,  behind  which  the  I^ord  conceals  the  rays 
of  His  glory. ^ 

Galilee  was  quite  otherwise.  If  we  may  be 
pardoned,  we  shall  borrow  its  description  from  an 
impious  pen,  but  one  faithful  in  this  picture.  — 
* 'The  saddest  country  in  the  world,"  says  Renan, 
**is,  perhaps,  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem. 
Galilee,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  country,  green, 
shady,  and  delightful  —  the  true  country  of  the 
Canticle  of  Canticles  and  the  songs  of  the  beloved.^ 
During  the  months  of  March  and  April  the  fields 
are  clothed  with  flowers  of  incomparable  beauty 
and  colour,  and  in  no  other  country  in  the  world 
do  the  mountains  rise  in  more  harmonious  elevation 
or  inspire  nobler  thoughts.  This  beautiful  land, 
ill  our  own  day  so  gloomy,  so  sad,  because  of  the 
great  poverty  that  Islamism  has  brought  to  human 
life,  but  where  all  that  man  has  not  been  able  to 
destroy    still    breathes    profusion,    sweetness,    and 

^     Bovet,    Voyage  en   Terre  Saitite,  p.  320-321. 

2  According  to  Ewald,  the  Canticle  must  have  been 
composed  in  the  country  of  Ephraim,  on  the  confines  of 
Galilee. 


208  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

tenderness  —  superaboundecl  at  the  time  of  Jesus 
in  comforts  and  joy."  ^ 

The  horrible  state  to  which  Galilee  is  reduced, 
especially  around  the  lake  of  Tiberias,  should  not 
deceive  us.  This  country,  now  burnt  up,  was 
once  a  terrestial  paradise.  The  baths  of  Tiberias, 
in  our  day  a  frightful  abode,  were  formerly  the 
most  beautiful  spot  in  Judea.  Josephus  extols  the 
fine  trees  of  the  plain  of  Genezareth,^  but  not  one 
of  them  remains.  Antoninus  the  martyr,^  about 
600,  fifty  years  before  the  Mussulman  invasion, 
found  Galilee  still  covered  watli  delightful  planta- 
tions, and  compares  its  fertility  to  that  of  Egypt. ^ 
The  lake,  incessantly  animated  by  the  fishermen's 
boats,  produced  on  its  shores  the  most  abundant 
vegetation,  and  gathered  together,  at  least  on  the 
western  bank,  what  was  not  seen  elsewhere,  trees 
of  all  species  —  the  walnut,  for  instance,  beside 
the  palm,  not  to  speak  of  the  fruit  trees,  the  olive, 
the  fig,  the  vine,  all  luxuriantly  productive.^ 

The  Talmud  happily  summarises  these  pictures 
in  a  few  words:  "The  country  of  Naphtali  is 
everywhere  covered  with  fertile  fields  and  with 
vines;  the  fruits  of  this  country  are  celebrated  for 
their  extreme  sweetness  and  delicacy."^  Such 
was  this  land  in  which  the    Scripture   says  that 

^  Renan,    Vie  de  Jesus,  p.  64-66. 

2  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jud.,  XVIII,  II,  3,  and  Bell.  Jud., 
Ill,  X,  8. 

2  Itiner.,  §  5. 

^  Renan,  op.  cit.,  p.  64. 

^  Stapfer,  La  Palestine^  p.  42. 

^  Dissertation  Berakthoh,  44  a. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  209 

milk  and  lioney  floivecl^^  and  whose  regions  it 
glorifies,  ^Nh^w  peace  gave  to  its  inhabitants  the 
joy  of  resting  hi  complete  confidence  under  the 
shade  of  their  vines  and  fig-trees.^ 

The  child  of  Israel  had,  however,  seen  other 
countries,  —  Egypt,  where  he  had  inhabited  the 
land  of  Gessen,  —  Assyria,  where  he  had  admired 
the  hanging  gardens,  —  Asiatic  Greece,  so  rich  in 
all  the  products  of  nature,  but  nothing  compensated 
him  for  Palestine.  The  Jordan  came  to  his  thoughts 
on  the  Nile,  the  Euphrates,  and  the  Orontes; 
Mount  Hermon,  on  Olympia  and  Taurus;  the  great 
ocean  itself  but  reminded  him  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee.  He  had  seen  them  as  an  exile,  admired 
them,  no  doubt,  then  forgot  them  on  his  return: 
the  Holy  Eand  alone  possessed  the  power  to  move 
and  affect  him.  All  the  rest  v/as  the  strange  land^, 
the  land  of  exile  and  malediction^^  which  he  must 
abandon  in  haste  to  re-enter  the  country  of  the 
children  of  God. 

The  men  of  Israel  were  as  different  to  each 
other  as  its  provinces.  In  Judea,  composed  of  the 
tribes  of  Juda  and  Benjamin,  especially  in  the  en- 
virons of  Jerusalem  and  in  the  city  itself,  built  on 
the   confines   of  the   two   tribes,   lived   "a  people, 

1  Exod.,  XIII,  5:  "Terram  fluentein  lacte  et  melle."  — 
Cf.  Levit.,  Num.  I,  Deuter.,  Joshua,  etc. 

2  III.  Reg.,  IV,  '25:  'Habitabatquejuda  et  Israel,  absque 
timore  ullo,  unusquisquesub  vite  sua  et  sub  ficu  sua,  a  Dan 
usque  Bersabee." 

3  Joshua,  IX,  6:  «'Terra  louginqua."  —  Exod.,  II,  22: 
"Advena  fui  in  terra  aliena." 

*     Genes.,  V,  29:   "Terra  cui  maledixit  Dominus." 


2IO  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

attaclied  to  tlieir  traditions,  wishing  to  know  only 
the  letter  of  the  Law,"  among  whom  "the  ancient 
faith  petrified,"  1  —  who  opposing  at  once  error 
from  without  and  progress  from  within,  paid  to 
routine  and  prejudice  as  much  respect  as  they 
yielded  obedience.  Pharisaism  flourished  there, 
aiding  Sadduceism  to  live,  as  absolutism  fosters 
the  life  of  doubt  and  incredulity.  But  we  must 
not  forget  that  the  history  of  Judea  is  made  up 
of  Deborah  and  Samuel,  Saul,  David  and  his  race, 
Isaias,  Jeremiah,  Daniel,  Onias,  the  Machabees, 
the  great  inspirers  of  the  pharisaical  school,  Hillel 
and  Schammai.  Hebron,  the  city  of  Abrahami, 
v/as  situated  in  Judea,  —  Bethlehem,  the  city  of 
David,  —  Bethel,  the  first  house  of  God  on  earth, 
—  Jerusalem,  with  its  Temple,  the  greatest  in  the 
world,  which  sheltered  the  Ark  and  the  tables  of 
the  Law.  The  Jews  were  the  consecrated  people, 
par  excellence^  and  no  one  dreamt  of  disputing  the 
supremacy  of  which  they  were  so  proud,  and  for 
which  they  had  shed  their  blood  in  defence  of 
religion  and  country.  Obdurate  and  haughty, 
poor,  but  living  on  little,  they  commanded  respect, 
even  while  they  provoked  dissatisfaction  and  anti- 
pathy. The  first  century,  which  saw  their  ruin, 
marvelled  at  their  fanaticism,  admired  their  cour- 
age, and  deemed  them  worthy  of  a  better  cause 
and  of  a  happier  destiny.  The  people  of  Galilee 
had  quite  different  characteristics.  Although  the 
Israelite  element  prevailed  there,  it  was  by  no 
means  rare  to  find  among  the  Galileans  those  of 

.1     Stapfer,  La  Palestine,  p.  117. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  211 

Phoenician,  Greek,  Arabic,  or  Syrian  origin.  In 
general,  the  inhabitants  of  the  north  of  Palestine 
were  of  a  gentle  and  peacefnl  disposition,  of  simple 
manners,  intelligent,  hard-working,  and  hospitable, 
—  more  solicitous  for  honour  than  wealth.  Such, 
at  least,  Josephus  and  the  Talmud  represent  them, 
though  these  were  anything  but  prejudiced  in  their 
favour.^  The  citizens  of  Jerusalem  sneered  at  their 
native  simplicity, ^  their  ignorance  of  the  sacred 
Scripture,  their  defective  pronunciation,^  the  little 
hope  they  had  of  giving  a  liberator  to  their 
country^  (notv/ithstanding  Barac,  Gedeon,  Jephte, 
Samson,  and  Judith ,  who  v/ere  purposely  forgotten) . 
Their  courage,  however,  was  not  inferior  to  that 
of  the  Jews,  in  that  unfortunate  campaign  against 
the  Romans,  which  began  on  the  borders  of  the 
lake  of  Tiberias,  and  ended  on  those  of  the  Dead 
Sea.  But,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Judean  Puritans,  they 
laboured  under  the  great  disadvantage  of  living 
close  to  the  Gentiles,  having  constant  relations 
with  them,  admitting  them  as  freely  to  the  heart 
of  their  country,  as  the  officials  of  Rome,  the  mer- 
chants of  Greece,  and  the  partisans  of  the  Herods. 
However,  although  the  Judeans  and  they  had 
little  love  for  each  other,  they  did  not  feel  towards 
one  another  anything  resembling  hatred.  They 
were  too  close  neighbours  not  to  have  their  mutual 

1  Cf.  Josephus,  Antiq.  Jicd.y  and  Bell.  Jud.y  passim;  — 
Talmud,  Baby  I. ,  {Medarm  and  Tosiftah  PeaJi);  —  Talm., 
Jems.  {Kelkottbolh) . 

2  Talm.,  Baby  I. ,  Erttbin,  53  b. 

3  Matth.,  XXVI,  73. 

'    John,  VII,  53;  — I,  46-47. 


2  r  2  THPC  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

jealousy  aroused,  but  their  rivalry  was  always  on 
matters  of  detail,  and  in  all  great  religious  and 
patriotic  questions  tliey  were  strongly  united.^  — 
We  see  this  clearly  when,  at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
Titus  was  opposed  by  these  two  Galileans,  John  of 
Giscala  and  Simon  Bar-Gioras,  who  would  be  heros 
were  they  not  bandits,  but  who  pushed  the  tenacity 
of  their  resistance  even  to  the  very  last  limits. 
Josephus  has  not  done  them  sufficient  justice^.  The 
Caesars  thought  otherwise  when  they  compelled 
Simon  to  follow  their  triumphal  chariot  before  de- 
livering him  up  to  the  axe  of  the  lictor. 

Jews  and  Galileans  were  also  united  in  the  same 
detestation  of  the  stranger,  were  he  Greek  or  Bar- 
barian, Samaritan  or  Gentile.  The  many  necessi- 
ties entailed  by  Qreek  or  Roman  occupation,  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Phoenicians,  the  ever  varying 
political  alliances,  the  commercial  relations  with 
the  entire  world,  were  never  prejudicial  to  this 
union,  and  at  the  time  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Herod- 
ians  were  too  few  in  number  and  of  too  little 
importance,  to  modify  it  in  anything.  To  be  as 
a  heathen  and  a  publican  ^  was  synonymous  with 
being  outside  the  fraternal  law,  which  bound  to- 
gether the  children  of  promise*  and  the  sharers  in 
the  friendship  of  God.^  Their  whole  education 
was    inspired    by    this     principle    or    tended    to 

1  Stapfer,  La  Palestine,  p.  119. 

2  Bell.  Jud.,  passim. 

3  Matth.,  XVIII,  17:  "Sit  tibi  sicut  ethnicus  et  publi- 
canus." 

^    Rom.,  IX,  8:  "Filii  promissionis." 

^     Sap.,  VII,  14:    "Particines  facti  sunt  amicitiae  Dei." 


THE  FRIENDSKIPS  OF  JESUS.  2 13 

this    end  —  total    and    complete    separation    from 
strangers. 

Respect  for  the  Law  and  for  historic  remains, 
which  composed  the  third  element  of  Jewish 
patriotism,  could  not,  in  fact,  have  other  motive 
or  result.  The  belief  in  the  unity  of  God,  in  divine 
Providence,  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  in  an  eternity  of  punish- 
ment and  recompense,  in  the  inviolability  of  human 
life,  in  the  sanctity  of  the  marriage  tie,  in  respect 
for  the  property  of  others,  set  the  Jews  absolutely 
apart  from  other  peoples.^  Among  themselves, 
these  doctrines  had  nothing  personal,  vague,  or 
changeable;  they  constituted  a  dogmatic  and  moral 
summary,  of  divine  origin,  of  clear  and  unalterable 
form,  as  well  as  of  unquestionable  authority  over 
all  souls  and  lives.  Unlike  other  peoples,  sceptics 
and  libertines  were  among  them  a  weak  minority, 
who  did  not  succeed  in  raising  either  the  intelli- 
gence or  the  fortune  of  the  Sadducees  or  of  the 
Herodians,  in  public  esteem.  Even  the  particular 
calling  with  which  they  had  been  honoured  in  the 
person  of  Abraham,  w^hich  God  had  renewed  in 
Isaac  and  Jacob,  only  explained  their  history, 
with  its  alternations  of  glory,  humiliation,  and 
regeneration,  in  which  everything  not  only  distin- 
guished them  from  other  men,  but  placed  them,  as 
it  were,  in  constant  opposition.  Unless,  then,  he 
abandoned     all,    —    convictions,     remembrances, 

^  In  spite  of  all  sophistry,  anyone  who  can  read  the 
Bible  and  the  Talmud  will  recognise  these  doctrines  in  them 
very  clearly. 


214  I'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

hopes,  —  the  Jew  must  regard  himself  as  degraded, 
contaminated  even,  by  communication  with  in- 
fidels, and  in  conformity  with  the  logic  of  inde- 
pendent minds  and  systems,  he  came  to  detest  those 
whom  he  ought  to  have  been  content  to  pity,  and 
continued  to  despise  them  after  they  had  become 
proselytes.  Such,  unquestionably,  were  the  Phari- 
sees; such,  also,  were  others,  having  these  charac- 
teristics more  or  less  pronounced,  as  one  still  sees 
in  Islam  with  regard  to  Giaours  and  Keffrs,^  whom 
they  tolerate,  though  secretly  cursing  them. 

If  there  were  in  Israel  a  child  who  should 
appear  in  duty  bound  to  submit  to  the  influence  of 
traditional  teaching  and  education,  it  was  Jesus, 
Son  of  David,  the  heir  apparently  stripped  of  the 
promises  made  to  His  race,  the  natural  representa- 
tive of  its  claims  before  God.  Poverty  and  destitu- 
tion had  no  connection,  in  a  son  of  Israel,  with  the 
ignorance  and  disdain  of  these  memories  and  hopes. 
The  most  abandoned  among  them  was  not  excluded 
from  the  knowledge  of  the  Law  and  its  history, 
however  little  he  desired  it,  and  the  epoch  of  Jesus 
is  one  of  those  in  which  this  desire  was  felt  by 
every  soul.  The  Man-God  did  not  require  to  study, 
since  He  possessed  all  knowledge,  and  it  is  on 
these  considerations  that  the  Gospel  affirms  of 
Jesus  that  He  had  —  at  the  age  of  twelve  years  — 
a  knowledge  and  science  of  the  Law  and  of  the 
Prophets,  capable  of  astonishing  the  doctors. ^  — 
When  He  entered  public  life.  He  gave  too  many 

1  "lufidels",  iu  the  various  moslem  dialects. 

2  Luke,  II,  46-47. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  215 

striking  proofs  of  this,  to  allow  even  the  slightest 
doubt.  He  had,  then,  full  light  on  this  subject  as 
■on  every  other,  and,  preserved  against  all  exaggera- 
tion of  the  national  spirit,  He  was  profoundly- 
imbued  with  this  spirit  itself ;  so  that,  did  the 
Gospel  teach  us  nothing  special,  we  should  still  be 
able  to  aiSrm  the  superior  patriotism  of  the  divine 
Master.  But  the  Gospel  renders  such  charming 
and  persuasive  testimony  of  it,  that  we  cannot 
withhold  our  absolute  assent. 

The  word  "country"  is  used  by  the  Evangelist 
solely  with  regard  to  Nazareth,  called  so  by  Jesus- 
Christ  Himself,^  to  the  prejudice,  it  would  seem, 
of  Bethlehem,  where  He  was  born.  In  truth,  the 
city  of  David,  by  the  accidental  fact  of  His  birth, 
was  not  the  country  of  Jesus,  who  had  been  brought 
to  Nazareth  in  His  infancy;  had  been  reared  and 
dwelt  there  till  of  an  age  when  He  could  choose 
for  Himself,  and  continued  to  return  there  during 
the  course  of  His  apostolic  life,  until  the  jealousy 
of  His  fellow-citizens  obliged  Him  to  retire  to 
Capharnaum.^  The  Evangelists  employ  the  current 
language  by  which  we  understand  countnj  to  be 
the  place  of  primordial  and  ordinary  sojourn  of 
the  man  of  whom  we  speak.  However,  there  has 
resulted  from  this  acceptation  of  the  term  a  curious 
interpretation  of  the  texts  of  Saint  Matthew  and 
Saint  lyuke,  relating  to  the  birth  of  Jesus;  we  give 
it  here  for  the  reader's  perusal,  and  also  to  convey 
an  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  a  certain  criticism 
interprets  the  sacred  writings. 

1  Matth.,  XIII,  57;  —  Johu,  IV,  44. 

2  Luke,  IV,  28-31. 


21 6  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Near  Nazareth  was  situated  a  hamlet  that 
Joshua^  and  the  Tahiiud  called  Bethlehem, ^  — 
Gerieh,  or  Nitseriah,  that  is,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Nazareth.  Whence  this  conclusion:  "One 
cannot  forbear  from  asking  if  Jesus,  called  by  the 
Gospel  "the  Nazarean",  might  not  have  been  born 
precisely  in  this  hamlet,  near  Nazareth.  Later 
on,  this  place  of  birth  might  have  been  confounded 
with  Bethlehem-Ephrata  of  Judea,  the  cradle 
of  the  family  of  David,  and  where,  according  to 
tradition,  the  Messiah  should  be  born,"^ 

"We  ask  the  question  without  solving  it,"  adds 
the  writer  responsible  for  this  phantasy,  which 
Strauss  and  Renan  appear  to  have  ignored  or 
scorned,  although  they  give  Nazareth,  not  Beth- 
lehem, as  the  birthplace  of  Jesus.  The  author  of 
La  Palestine  would  have  been  able  to  reply  at 
once,  that  Saint  Matthew  says  the  Saviour  was 
born  in  Bethlehem  of  Juda^^  that  is,  in  Bethlehem 
of  Judea,  near  Jerusalem,  and  not  at  Nazareth; 
that  the  same  Evangelist  represents  the  Magi  as 
having  been  sent  by  the  scribes  of  Jerusalem  to 
Bethlehem  of  Juda^  —  fulfilling  the  prophecy  of 
Micheas  who  specified  Bethlehem-ij9/^r(X^a,^  and 
which  he  calls  "Bethlehem,  the  land  oj  Juda,''^  — 

1    Joshua,  XIX,  15.  —  Cf.  Judges,  XII,  8. 

^  Now  Bethlahm,  6  miles  west  of  Nazareth.  (V.  Neu- 
bauer,  Geographie  du   Talmud,  p.  189-190.) 

^     Stapfer,  La  Palestine,  p.  43,  note  3. 

^  Matt.,  II,  1:  "Cum  ergo  natus  esset  Jesus  Bethleem 
Jiida.'' 

'"  Mich.,  V,  2:  "Et  tu,  Bethleem  Ephrata,  parvulus  es 
in  millibus/wfl'a." 

^     Matth.,  II,  6:    "Et  tu,  Bethleem,  terra  Juda^ 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  217 

agreeing  with  the  prophet.  He  might  also  have 
noticed  the  expressions  of  Saint  Luke,  who  leaves 
no  room  for  any  doubt,  "And  Joseph  also  went  up 
from  Galilee,  out  of  the  city  of  Nazareth,  into 
Judea,  to  the  city  of  David,  which  is  called  Beth- 
lehem; because  he  was  of  the  house  and  family  of 
David. ' '  ^  We  should  but  waste  time  if  we  delayed 
longer  over  this  question  which  the  protestant, 
rationalistic  writer  "asks  without  solving,"  and 
which  it  were  better  not  to  have  asked  at  all.  — 
If  Nazareth  is  called  "the  country"  of  Jesus,  in 
the  sense  in  which  we  ourselves  employ  this  word 
to  designate  a  French  province  or  city,  the  "land 
of  Israel"  is  the  true  country  to  which  the  angel 
brought  Mary  and  her  divine  Child  after  the  exile 
of  Egypt, 2  and  it  is  of  it  that  we  must  speak,  with 
the  Gospel. 

A  leading  feature  in  the  preachings  of  Jesus, 
one  easy  to  note,  is  its  absolutely  national  char- 
acter. Not  only  does  He  speak  the  syro-chaldaic 
language,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  idioms  used 
in  Palestine,  but  the  form  of  thought  and  turn  of 
expression  are  essentially  Jewish.  The  images, 
the  comparisons,  the  contrasts,  the  allusions,  do 
not  appear  to  have  been  borrowed  from  nature, 
history,  doctrines,  or  manners  other  than  Jewish. 
Just  as  the  Gospel  is  an  oriental  book,  of  which 
there  is  no  doubt,  it  is  also  Palestinian  and  Jewish, 
in  spite   of   more   or   less    scientific    imaginations 

1  Luke,  II,  4:  "A  Galilaea,  de  civitate  Nazareth,  iu  Ju- 
dseam,  in  civitatem  .  .  .  quae  vocatur  Bethleem." 

2  Matth.,  II,  20:   "Surge  .  .  .  et  vade  in  terram  Israel." 


2l8  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

which  our  age  sometimes  honours  by  taking  seri- 
ously. Jesus  had,  we  know,  visited  Decapolis  and 
Phoenicia^;  He  had  seen  other  centres,  other  men, 
other  customs,  but  nevertheless,  no  trace  of  them 
is  found  in  His  mode  of  thought  or  speech.  He 
has  no  rules  of  life  but  the  laws  of  His  country^; 
He  appears  not  to  have  known  any  language  but 
that  of  His  own  land^;  His  visible  affections  are 
marked,  like  those  of  Judas  Machabeus,  by  an  in- 
violable attachment  to  the  laws,  to  the  Temple,  to 
the  holy  city,  to  the  people  of  Israel.'^  This  ex- 
clusively patriotic  characteristic  is  found  even  in 
those  of  His  actions  apparently  most  opposed  to 
this  sentiment.  He  affects  at  first  not  to  welcome, 
with  His  ordinary  kindness,  the  poor  Phoenician 
woman  who  begged  Him  to  cure  her  sick  child ^; 
and  He,  who  eagerly  attended  the  bedside  of  the 
sick  or  the  dead,  to  bring  them  health  or  resurrec- 
tion, healed  at  a  distance  the  servant  of  the  Roman 
centurion  of  Capharnaum.^  He  admired  and  com- 
mended the  faith  of  the  gentile,  but  He  would  not 
enter  his  house.'  L,evi  and  Zachary,  both  publi- 
cans, were  still  of  the  blood  of  Abraham,  and  He 
sat  at  their  table.  Their  house  did  not  contaminate 
the  presence  it  sheltered,  but  that  of  the  centurion 

1  Matth.,  XV,  21 ;  —  Mark,  V,  20,  aud  VII,  24. 

-'  II  Macch.,  VII,  24:  "Patriis  legibus." 

3  Id.,  XII,  37:   "Voce  patria." 

^  Id.,  XIII,  14:   "Pro  legibus,  templo,  civitate,  patria  et 
civibus." 

5  Matth.,  XV,  22-28. 

6  Matth.,  VIII,  5-14. 
"  Luke,  VII,  2-11. 


THK  FRIP:nD.SHIPS  OP'  JESUS.  219 

would  have  cast,  in  the  eyes  of  the  muhitude,  the 
shadow  of  pagan  and  domineering  Rome  on  the 
soul  of  the  patriot  and  believer. 

This  patriotic  pride  could  not,  however,  but 
compromise  the  true  interests  of  Israel,  by  its  ex- 
cesses of  words  and  action.  Though  He  took 
pleasure  in  the  title,  "Son  of  David", ^  and  wil- 
lingly called  to  mind  the  recollection  of  Solomon^, 
He  could  not  allow  Himself  to  take  a  false  view  of 
these  ijreat  memories.  In  the  midst  of  the  turmoil 
which  disturbed  Galilee,  and  the  ebulition  of 
passions  which  agitated  even  His  own  family.  He 
remained  opposed  to  all  rash  demands,  not  from 
indolence  or  fear  of  failure,  but  because  He  would 
not  have  His  country  risk  the  adventures  in  which 
Jerusalem,  the  Temple,  and  liberty  were  afterwards 
destined  to  perish. 

What  strikes  us  most  when  He  gave  permission 
to  pay  the  tribute  to  Caesar,^  and  refused  the  crown 
which  the  multitude  offered  Him  in  the  desert,*  is 
His  patriotism,  not  His  prudence  and  disinterested- 
ness. The  Son  of  kings,  the  heir  of  prophetic 
promises,  surrounded  by  all  the  prestige  that 
eloquence,  power,  and  popularity  could  give  — 
inspired,  it  would  seem,  to  place  Himself  above 
all  others,  by  the  hatred  of  His  opponents  as  much 
as  by  the  esteem  of  His  partisans,  —  has  only  one 
reply  to  all  their  solicitations,  in  the  mysterious 

1  Matth.,  IX,  27  ;  — Mark,  X,  47  ;  — Luke,  XVIII,  38,  etc. 

2  Matth.,  VI,  29,  and  XII,  42;— Luke,  XI,  31,  and  XII,  27. 

3  Matth.,  XXII,  16-21 ;  —  Mark,  XII,  14-17. 
<  John,  VI,  14-15. 


220  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

words:  "The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a 
redemption  for  many."  ^ 

"To  minister"  is  the  word  of  a  patriot,  as 
"to  be  ministered  unto"  is  the  word  of  the  am- 
bitious. But  to  minister  is  not  to  flatter  ;  the 
object  of  the  flatterer  is  to  j)lease,  not  to  be  use- 
ful, since  it  is  often  necessary  to  displease,  in 
order  to  serve.  We  also  find  in  Jesus-Christ  an 
unparalled  anxiety  for  truth  and  goodness,  in 
everything  and  everywhere,  even  in  doing  violence 
to  the  sympathies  which  were  His  by  right,  and 
the  personal  interests  which  He  could  most  law- 
fully defend.  He  loved  Galilee  with  a  preference 
which  is  seen  in  His  eagerness  to  return  there  after 
His  journeys  to  Judea,  —  in  the  tenderness,  so  to 
speak,  of  His  words  when  it  brings  before  His 
mind  the  pictures  that  are  the  theme  of  His  para- 
bolical teachings,  —  in  His  gracious  working  of 
the  miracles  of  Cana,  Capharnaum,  and  Nairn. 
Galilee  is  the  place  of  the  apostle's  vocation, 
Magdalen's  conversion,  the  Transfiguration  on 
Thabor,  and  the  j^romise  of  the  Eucharist.  But 
we  find  nowhere  in  the  Gospel  that  He  espoused 
the  quarrels  of  the  Galileans,  so  frequent  in  His 
time,  and  sometimes  ending  so  sadly. ^  Judea 
could  not  claim  His  love,  for  many  reasons,  and 
the     foreknowledge    that,    after    having    been    so 

^  Matth.,  XX,  28:  "Filius  hominis  uoii  venit  miuistrari 
sed  miuistrare  et  dare  animam  suam  redemptiouem  pro 
multis." 

2     Luke,  XIII,  1-2. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  221 

cruelly  misunderstood,  He  should  be  put  to  death 
there,  rendered,  no  doubt,  even  the  thought  of  any 
sojourn  in  it,  unwelcome.  However,  there  is  not 
one  single  painful  word  in  the  Gospel  for  the  in- 
habitants of  Juda  or  Jerusalem  ;  the  part  which 
is  assigned  them  is  sufficiently  beautiful  to  prevent 
their  jealousy,  and  the  stern  words  addressed  to 
their  instigators,  pharisees,  scribes,  or  priests,  are 
not  spared  on  the  zealous  hypocrits  of  the  law  in 
Galilee.  The  curse  which  menaced  the  Galilean 
towns  of  Corozain,  Bethsaida,  and  Capharnaum^, 
did  not  fall  on  Jerusalem,  the  object  of  His  sad 
presentiments  and  the  cause  of  His  tears,  but  ever 
dear  to  His  heart."  Nothing  proves  more  con- 
clusively the  absence  of  all  personal  consideration 
than  this  clemency  and  impartiality.  Beyond  all 
that  man  can  experience  or  fear,  there  is  our 
Country  —  a  mother  who,  we  must  never  forget, 
has  given  us  life,  and  who  has  a  right  to  the 
assistance  of  her  children. 

I^ove  does  not  always  prevent  the  giving  of 
advice,  warning,  or  reprimand,  when  the  salvation 
of  those  whom  we  would  serve  requires  it.  But 
salvation  cannot  come  except  by  truth  and  justice^: 
to  proclaim  it  is,  then,  a  duty  for  those  whose 
mission  it  is  to  raise  the  people,  or  arrest  them  on 
the  brink  of  ruin.    The  prophet  Isaias  had  received 

1  Matth.,  XI,  21-23. 

2  Matth.,  XXIII,  37;  -  Luke,  XIII,  34,  and  XIX,  41-45. 

3  John,  VIII,  32  :  "Veritas  liberabit  vos."  —  Prov.,  X,  2: 
<*Justitia  vero  liberavit  a  moite,"  etc. 


222  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

that  command,^  and  transmitted  it  to  those  who 
were  to  come  after  him  ;  Jesus  could  not  be  un- 
faithful, and  His  voice  was  raised  without  fear  and 
without  truce,-  as  was  that  of  John  the  Baptist,  to 
promote  in  all  souls  zeal  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 
But  the  truth  often  offends,  and  justice  is  always 
oppressive:  in  proclaiming  them  one  runs  the  risk 
of  being  disagreeable  to  the  great  and  unpopular 
with  the  multitude,  —  as  a  consequence  of  not  pro- 
moting one's  own  interests,  but  rather  of  making- 
irreconcilable  enemies  and  exposing  oneself  in 
advance  to  every  kind  of  deception;  —  considera- 
tions which  restrain  the  ambitious  or  satisfy  them, 
but  to  which  the  patriot  does  not  stoop,  for  he 
regards  only  wisdom  and  prudence^  as  being  cal- 
culated to  render  his  intervention  profitable,  after 
which,  having  done  all  that  depends  on  him,  he 
leaves  the  rest  to  God.  In  the  true  patriot  there  is 
an  apostle  and  a  martyr :  he  who  fears  to  appear, 
or  draws  back  before  the  complete  sacrifice  of  him- 
self, understands  nothing  of  patriotism.  After  the 
example  of  Jesus,  lie  must  have  neither  family  nor 
friendships^  nor  goods  that  he  is  not  ready  to 
abandon,  to  go  where  duty  calls^:  this  is  the  only 
means  of  becoraing  worthy  of  Him,  profoundly 
disregardful  of  those  who  look  bach  after  having 
put  their  hands  to  the  plough/' 

^  Isaias,  XL,  9:  "Ivift  up  thy  voice  with  strength  .  .  . 
lift  it  up,  fear  not." 

2     Isaias,  LVIII,  1:   "Clama,  ne  cesses." 

^     II  Tim.,  IV,  2:    "In  omni  patientia  et  doctrina." 

^    Matth.,  X,  37;  —  Luke,  XIV,  26. 

^  Luke,  IX,  62:  "Nemo  mittens  manum  suam  ad  aratrum 
et  respiciens  retro,  aptus  est  regno  Dei." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.         223 

The  Saviour  of  Israel  did  not  look  back,  and 
His  work  ended  only  at  the  moment  when  His 
heart  ceased  to  beat.  Expiatory  Victim  for  this 
people,  who  would  not  have  Him  for  their  king 
in  time,^  He  opened  for  them,  by  His  death,  the 
gates  of  the  eternal  kingdom,  where  their  place  and 
part  are  still  the  first, ^  since  it  is  necessary  to  be 
the  regenerated  of  Israel  to  enter  into  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,  and  to  rest  in  the  bosom  of  the  true 
Abraham.^  Let  not  the  patriotism  of  Christ  be 
called  in  question,  in  order  to  have  the  right  to 
calumniate  that  of  His  children.  Let  us  say  Avitli 
Lacordaire  that  "our  country  is  the  Church  of 
time,  as  the  Church  is  our  country  for  eternity." 
For  us,  taking  the  simple  human  view,  "without 
country,  man  is  an  atom  lost  among  the  accidents 
of  time  and  space.  .  .  .  Our  country  and  our 
Church;  the  national  and  the  religious  feeling,  far 
from  excluding  one  another,  are  strengthened  one 
by  the  other.  .  .  God  has  made  our  country;  it  is 
He  who  made  the  Church;  it  is  He  also  who  made 
the  love  which  both  demand  from  us."  —  x\nd  we 
add,  with  the  same  great  orator:  "There,  where 
our  country  is  an  empty  temple  which  expects 
nothing  from  us  but  silence  and  taxes,  it  creates 
all  around  it  a  formidable  sloth,  and  a  powerful 
depravity.      The  strength  of  souls,  if  such  is  left 

^     Luke,  XIX,  14:  "Nolumus  huiic  regnare  super  uos." 
-     Rom.,  II,  10:    "But   glory    and    honour    and    peace   to 

every  one  that   worketh   good  ;  to  the  Jew  first,   and  also  to 

the  Greek." 

3     Galat.,  VI,  16  ;  —  Apoc,  XXI,  10-27  ;  —  Luke,  XVI,  23. 


224  'I'HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

them,  is  expended  to  their  disgrace.  Empty  heads 
bear  the  burden  of  great  trusts,  and  weary  hearts 
sigh  after  dignities  that  are  like  themselves.  An 
exchange  is  made  between  the  corruption  of  the 
subjects  and  the  corruption  of  their  masters.  These 
latter,  having  nothing  more  to  fear,  because  all  is 
permitted  to  them,  give  an  impulse  to  the  ruin  of 
morals,  and  all  go,  by  unanimous  consent,  to  the 
place  where  Providence  awaits  peoples  unworthy 
to  live."^ 

1     Ivacordaire,  VI,   Conferefice  de  Toulouse. 


SECOND  BOOK. 
THE  CHOSEN  FRIENDS. 


(3^5) 


SECOND  BOOK. 

THE  CHOSEN  FRIENDS. 

Chapter  I. 

Lazarus. 

"I^azarus  our  friend." 

(John,  XI,  11.) 

lyiving  and  profound  as  was  the  affection  that 
Jesus  bestowed  upon  His  family  and  His  earthly 
country,  we  know  that  these  did  not  absorb  all 
His  power  of  loving:  a  large  part  was  reserved  for 
other  friendships,  at  once  sweeter  and  stronger, 
because  they  were  born  of  the  deliberate  choice  of 
His  heartv 

Family  affection  cannot  strictly  be  called  friend- 
ship. As  Lacordaire  so  eloquently  says,  "friend- 
ship is  born  in  freer  regions.  .  .  It  is  not  the  bosom 
of  a  mother  bent  over  her  sleeping  child  that 
gives  it  birth.  .  .  It  issues  from  the  heart  of  man 
by  an  act  of  supreme  freedom,  and  this  freedom 
perseveres  to  the  very  end,  though  the  law  of  man 
or  the  law  of  God  may  never  consecrate  its  resolves. 
Friendship  lives  by  itself  and  by  itself  alone  :  free 
at  its  inception,  it  remains  so  in  its  course.  It 
subsists  on  the  intangible  adaptability  of  two  souls, 
a  mysterious  resem])lance  between  the  invisible 
(237) 


228  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

beauty  of  the  one  and  the  other,  a  beauty  which 
the  senses  may  perceive  in  the  emotional  expression 
of  the  features,  but  which  the  effusion  of  an  ever- 
growing confidence  manifests  still  more  clearly, 
until  at  length  all  is  light,  shadowless  and  un- 
bounded, and  friendship  becomes  the  reciprocal 
possession  of  two  minds,  of  two  wills,  of  two 
faculties,  of  two  lives,  always  free  to  separate,  yet 
ever  remaining  together. ' '  ^ 

Had  the  Master  during  His  life  any  friendships 
which  we  may  thus  define  ?  The  mind  turns  first 
of  all  to  the  disciples  and  apostles,  those  souls  so 
intimately  connected  with  the  soul  of  Jesus  by  that 
mysterious  resemblance  of  which  Pere  Lacordaire 
speaks,  indissolubly  united  to  the  soul  of  the 
Saviour  in  the  reciprocal  possession  of  two  minds, 
two  wills,  two  faculties.  Yes,  these  were  His 
friends  indeed.  They  loved  Him  with  a  sincere 
love  which  He  severally  returned  to  all,  and 
which,  being  greater  for  His  apostles,  allowed  Him 
to  say  to  them:    "I  have  called  you  My  friends."^ 

But  before  speaking  of  these,  we  must  study 
another  class  of  freely-bestowed  affections  in  the 
Master's  life,  and  these  alone  seem  based  on  free- 
dom in  its  fullest  extent,  since  the  friendship  given 
to  the  apostles  was  subject  to  the  law  which  gov- 
erned the  mission  of  the  Incarnate  Word. 

"It  is  manifest  in  reading  the  Gospel,  that  the 
apostles  themselves,  chosen  though  they  were  and 
holding  the  first  place  in  the  work  of  Redemption, 

^     I/acordaire,  Sainte  Marie- Madeleine,  c.  I. 
2    Id.,  ibid.,  III. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  229 

were  not,  however,  by  the  privilege  of  their  future, 
the  most  dear  to  the  heart  that  had  called  them. 
For  as  Jesus,  the  image  of  our  life,  wished  to  have 
a  mother,  so  He  willed  also  to  have  friends  who 
should  be  His  by  a  title  other  than  their  mission, 
by  the  right  of  a  loving  tenderness  independent  of 
any  other  principle  than  itself/'^ 

The  Gospel  has  preserved  for  us  the  names  of 
these  friends  in  a  phrase,  the  brevity  of  which 
constitutes  its  force  and  charm :  '  'Jesus  loved  Martha 
and  her  sister  Mary,  and  Lazarus!"  ^  Certainly, 
if  we  consider  but  the  words,  they  are  few;  but  it 
is  impossible  to  present  the  mind  with  a  vaster 
subject,  to  provide  the  heart  with  keener  emotions, 
or  to  offer  to  eloquence  and  poetry  a  theme  capable 
of  greater  development.  In  these  words  there  is 
contained  the  most  delightful  and  impressive 
history  that  man  can  relate,  and  one  which  has 
penetrated  most  deeply  into  the  memory  of  genera- 
tions. Even  at  the  present  time,  when  the  traveller 
who  wends  his  way  from  Jerusalem,  has  passed  the 
brook  of  Cedron  and  climbed  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
he  discerns  upon  the  eastern  slope  of  these  hills  the 
ruined  fragments  of  ancient  dwellings.  Amidst 
the  wreck  of  centuries  three  time-worn  objects  are 
pointed  out  to  him,  scarcely  distinguishable  among 
the  shapeless  remains.  "There",  he  is  told,  "was 
the  house  of  Lazarus;  there,  that  of  Martha,  and 
there  Mary  Magdalen's."     The  treasured  remem- 

1  Lacordaire,  Sainte  Marie-Madeleine ,  c.  III. 

2  John,  XI,  5:  "Diligebat  autem  Jesus  Martham  et 
sororem  ejtis  Mariain  et  Lazarum." 


230  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OV  JESUS. 

braiices  of  centuries  have  outlived  the  destruction 
of  barbarism,  and  the  names  of  the  friends  of  Jesus, 
surviving  the  scattered  stones,  still  animate  with 
life  those  silent  solitudes.^  Let  us  pause  among 
the  ruins  and  revive  their  memories. 

The  last  named  by  the  Evangelist  is  Lazarus, 
not  because  he  was  the  youngest,^  but  because  he 
occupied  a  minor  place  in  the  life  of  the  divine 
Friend.  That  is  why  we  begin  our  study  with 
him,  in  order  to  procure  for  ourselves,  if  I  may  so 
speak,  the  delight  of  progression  in  which  the 
heart  of  Jesus  will  unfold  its  tenderness  to  us  by 
degrees.  Though  less  striking,  the  part  that 
Lazarus  played  is  still  worthy  of  admiration;  one 
could  justly  say  to  the  Master,  without  otherwise 
naming  him:   "He  whom  thoii  lovest!''  ^ 

After  the  reduction  of  Syria  to  a  Roman  prov- 
ince by  Pompc}',  in  the  year  64,  the  Senate,  in 
accordance  with  its  traditions,  had  respected  civil 
and  religious  organisation.  The  proconsuls  v/ho 
replaced  the  kings  held  there  the  same  position  as 
the  English  residents  in  India,  with  somewhat  less 
disinterestedness  and  honesty,  it  is  true,  but  with 
the  same  apparent  spirit  of  liberality  and  tolerance. 
The  legates  of  Augustus  continued  this  system,  all 
the  better  calculated  to  allow  the  vanquished  the 

^     Lacordaire,  Sainte  M arie- Madeleine ^  c.  II. 

2  S.  Epiphaiies  (Haeres.,  66)  makes  him  thirty  years  of 
age  at  the  time  of  his  resurrection  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  he 
was  younger.  Respecting  the  advanced  age  attributed  by 
Catherine  Emmerich,  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  claim 
our  attention. 

2    John,  XI,  3:  "Domine,  ecce  quem  amas  infirmatur." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  ^31 

illusion  of  an  autonomy,  as  the  names  themselves 
denoting  authority  had  not  changed.  A  satrap^ 
continued  to  represent  the  supreme  authority  as  in 
the  time  of  Darius,  Alexander,  or  of  Antiochus, 
side  by  side  with  the  lieutenant  and  procurators  of 
Caesar :  his  ]30sition  was  almost  ignored,  but  was 
not  insignificant,  as  one  may  judge,  even  at  the 
present  day,  by  the  authority  which  the  chiefs  of 
the  Christian  communities,  subject  to  the  Sultans, 
exercise.  Though  not  clearly  defined,  their  pre- 
rogatives and  influence  are  no  less  considerable, 
and  the  population,  somewhat  ignorant  of  the  true 
constitution  of  the  Empire,  see  in  them  necessary 
intermediaries,  and  the  real  arbiters  of  their 
destiny. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  of  our 
era,  the  chief  satrap  or  magistrate  of  Phoenician 
Syria  was  Theophilus,  of  noble  birth,  Greek  in 
name,  and  a  proselyte  to  Judaism,  if  indeed  he 
were  not  of  Jewish  origin,  as  was  often  the  case 
among  the  dignitaries  of  Asiatic  courts.     He  had 

1  Viceroy  or  governor  (Rich,  Dictionnaire,  V.,  Satrapa). 
—  S.  Jerome  translates  the  hebrew  word  by  satrape  :  pasha  ? 
chief  or  prince.  The  prerogatives  of  these  ofl&cers  have 
changed  much  since  the  time  of  the  satraps  of  whom  Quintus 
Curtius  (III,  13),  and  Cornelius  Nepos  (Con.  c.  2)  speak. 
But  their  power  remained  under  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  with 
the  title  of  governors  or  prefects.  —  Raban  Maur,  De  vita  B. 
Mariae  Magdalenae,  c.  I.  —  We  confess,  we  do  not  under- 
stand the  assertion  that  Martha  had  another  father  than 
Lazarus'  and  Magdalen's  (Theophanes,  Homil.  XXIV).  We 
believe  that  the  expression  "uterine  brother  and  sister"  in- 
tends to  state  the  relationship  precisely,  by  setting  aside  the 
interpretation  given  to  the  words  in  the  Gospel — "brothers 
and  sisters  of  Jesus." 


232  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

married  a  daughter  of  the  tribe  of  Jiida  and  the 
family  of  David,  named  Eucharia  or  Eucharis, 
and  he  had  had  three  children,  Martha,  Mary,  and 
Eleazar,  better  known  by  the  Gospel  name  of 
Lazarus,  the  same  whom  Jesus  was  one  day  to 
call  "Our  friend".^  —  In  their  mother's  right  these 
children  were  heirs  to  lands  situated  in  different 
parts  of  Palestine,  —  Magdala  in  Galilee,  Bethany 
in  Judea,^  and  in  Jerusalem  itself  a  dwelling,  where 
there  is  good  reason  to  suppose  they  maintained 
great  state  when  they  visited  the  Holy  City.^  — 
Although  Magdala  had  fallen  to  Mary,  and  Bethany 
was  the  chosen  abode  of  Martha,  the  three  children 
of  Theophilus  usually  lived  together,  subject  to  the 
authority  of  the  elder  sister,  a  gentle  and  pious 
virgin,  of  virile  heart  and  generous  hand. 

Meanwhile,  Mary  married,  deserted  her  hus- 
band, gave  herself  up  to  an  abandoned  life,^  and 
lived  for  some  time  in  isolation  from  her  brother 
and  sister.  Lazarus,  at  most  thirty  years  of  age 
when  John  the  Baptist  began  to  preach,^  continued 
to  live  with  Martha  at  Bethany,  or  in  their  dwell- 
ing at  Jerusalem,  which  it  is  believed  was  his  own 

^    John,  XI,  11:    "Eazariis  amicus  noster." 

2  Raban  Maur  (op.  cit.,  c.  II)  speaks  of  another  property 
in  Bethania,  dey  Of  id  ^/le  Jordan  where  John  baptised.  (John, 
I,  28,  and  X,  40.) 

^  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  II:  "In  omnibus  his  uuani- 
miter  degentes  deliciis  afflnebaut." 

*     "Solute  pudicitiae  freno,"  says  the  Vie  Anonynie. 

^  According  to  tradition  INIagdalen  was  twenty-five  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  her  conversion.  Lazarus,  being  younger, 
could  have  been  then  only  twenty-three  or  twenty- four.  Some 
believe  him  to  have  been  even  younger. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  233 

property.  ^  The  life  of  Martha  was  that  of  the 
noble  women  of  Judea,  and  was  occupied  with 
domestic  concerns,  practices  of  piety,  and  inter- 
course with  the  doctors  and  the  princes  of  the 
people,  as  we  may  conclude  from  the  indications 
given  by  Scripture  and  history.  The  life  of  I^az- 
arus  is  little  known  to  us,  or  rather,  it  would  have 
escaped  us  completely  if  tradition,  in  other  respects 
precise  enough,  did  not  point  him  out  as  engaged 
in  a  military  career,^  which  seems  at  first  difficult 
to  explain. 

Military  life  in  Palestine  at  the  time  of  Lazarus 
could  only  assume  three  forms:  the  service  of  the 
Romans  as  an  auxiliary,  the  service  of  Herod,  and 
the  service  of  the  Temple.  The  two  latter  must 
be  rejected  on  the  most  elementary  reflection : 
a  son  of  Juda  could  not  consent  to  serve  Antipas, 
and  the  character  of  the  levitical  troops  would  not 
allow  him  to  join  their  ranks.  The  Romans,  on 
the  contrary,  had  auxiliary  troops  impressed  in  this 
very  country  and  joined  to  the  legions  of  Syria; 
we  know  this  from  Tacitus  and  other  contemporary 
historians,  but  nothing  authorises  us  in  believing 
that  Lazarus  had  enlisted  in  the  ranks  of  this 
militia. 

There  remains  an  explanation  which  we  submit 
to  the  judgment  of  the  reader.  The  custom  of 
bearing  arms  was  general  in  Galilee,  whence 
Lazarus    took    his    nationality,    and    besides,    the 

^  Tradition  says  that  Magdaleu  also  possessed  a  house 
there,  confounded,  perhaps,  with  that  of  Eazarus. 

-  Jacob.  A  Voragine,  De  S.  Alaria  Magdalena. — "Quod 
L/azarus  militiae  vacaret." 


234  "^HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

eastern  nobles  Avere  accustomed  to  appear  in  public , 
not  only  witli  arms,  but  even  surrounded  by  an 
escort  of  armed  men.  Although  after  the  downfall 
of  Archelaus  Judea  had  been  reduced  to  a  Roman 
province,  and  had  lost  the  right  to  bear  arms  in 
ordinary  life,  the  Galileans  coming  to  Jerusalem 
maintained  their  privileges  as  the  Arabs  still  do, 
who  appear  in  the  streets  of  the  City  with  lances 
and  muskets.  Lazarus  learnt  this  military  custom 
from  his  father,  and  appeared,  very  probably,  with 
the  traditional  arms  and  escort,^  the  more  so  as 
these  were  not  altogether  a  useless  luxury.  The 
Romans  kept  guard  principally  over  the  towns  and 
restricted  themselves  to  providing  escorts  for  their 
convoys,  with  the  result  of  assuring  the  security  of 
all  the  routes  towards  the  sea  on  the  west  and 
north.  But  the  task  of  maintaining  communica- 
tion around  Jericho  and  towards  Samaria  and 
Tiberias  was  left  to  Herod,  who  still  followed  the 
customs  of  Palestine,  leaving  each  one  to  protect 
himself  as  he  best  could  outside  the  cities  and 
castles  where  he  quartered  his  troops.  The  Gospel 
teaches  us  in  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan 2, 
that  there  was  no  trusting  to  the  semblance  of 
security,  even  on  the  most  frequented  roads.  — • 
lyazarus  must  have  been  called  upon  on  more  than 
one  occasion  to  resist  the  attacks  of  vagrants,  v/hen 
he  went  down  to  Jericho  on  his  way  to  Magdala 
by  the  valley  of  the  Jordan.     If  tradition  attributes 

1  So  James  of  Voragine  supposes,  when  he  speaks  of 
soldiers,  militibus,  maintained  in  the  house  at  Bethany.  {^De 
Sanda  Maria  Ilfagdalena.') 

2  Luke,  X,  30—35. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  235 

to  him  the  kind  desire  of  protecting  travellers  in 
the  mountain  passes  of  Aduuimini,^  it  seems  most 
probable,  at  least  after  Lazarus  had  become  one  of 
the  Saviour's  disciples. 

Hence  the  Crusaders  drew  the  idea  of  institut- 
ing a  religious  and  military  order  for  the  protection 
of  the  roads  of  Palestine  and  the  care  of  the  sick, 
under  the  invocation  of  Saint  Lazarus.  A  singular 
confusion  between  the  Lazarus  of  the  Parable^  and 
the  Lazarus  of  history,  or  some  local  belief  of 
which  it  is  impossible  to  discover  the  origin,  makes 
the  brother  of  Martha  a  leper  ^  cleansed  by  Jesus 
and  constituted  patron  of  the  leper  hospitals  of 
which  the  order  of  chivalry  founded  in  1119/ 
and  conhrmed  in  1255  by  Pope  Alexander  IV. 
had  charge.  Perhaps  this  is  how  the  ancient 
commentators  interpret  the  "languens"  of  Saint 
John^,  by  establishing,  according  to  them,  a  con- 
nection between  this  passage  and  that  in  which 
Jesus  and   the   Lazarus  raised   from  the   dead  are 

1  Md'aleh  Adommini  of  the  Bible,  iiiourowu  time  called 
Akbat-er-Riha,  between  Jericho  aud  the  Khau-cl-Atrour. 
This  passage,  a  regular  "break-neck"  place,  says  Fr.  Lievin, 
is  not  even  now  absolutely  secure,  and  travellers  cannot  tra- 
verse it  without  some  anxiety.  (Cf.  Bovet,  Voy.  en  Terre 
Sainte,  etc.)  We  ourselves  have  found  it  more  picturesque 
than  reassuring. 

2  Luke,  XVI,  20- 

3  "At  one  league  from  Jerusalem  is  (Bethany)  .  .  .  and 
there  (Jesus)  raised  Lazarus  from  his  grave."  — La  Citery 
de  Jkerusalem,  ap.  Vogfte  {Les  Eglises  de  Terre  Sainte,  p. 
448).  —  Cf.  note  1  on  the  same  page. 

4  still  in  existence  in  Italy.  (V.  Hisi.  des  Ordres  Mo- 
nastigueSy  t.  II.) 

s  John,  XI,  1.  —  Cf.  Nonnos,  Explicatio  Evangelii  sec. 
Joann.  loc.  cit. 


236  THB:  friendships  of  JESUS. 

both  found  seated  at  the  table  of  Simon  the  leper  1, 
and  also,  it  seems  to  us,  on  account  of  the  obscur- 
ity in  which  Lazarus  keeps  himself  in  Martha's 
house,  even  when  the  divine  Friend  wishes  to 
stay  there. 

However  that  may  be,  we  know  for  certain 
from  the  Gospel,  that  Lazarus  became  at  an  early 
date  one  of  the  adherents  of  the  new  doctrine,  and 
one  of  the  chosen  disciples  of  the  Master.  But  one 
may  be  allowed  to  ask  if  he  did  not  maintain,  in 
the  presence  of  Jesus,  the  same  reserve  as  Joseph 
and  Nicodemus,  until  after  his  resurrection?  The 
eagerness  of  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem  to  console 
Martha  and  Mary  could  hardly  be  explained,  if 
Lazarus  had  been  an  avowed  follower  of  Jesus, 
and  consequentl}^  suspected  by  the  Sanhedrin,  if 
not  formally  excommunicated  as  had  been  decreed 
on  the  3otli  September  in  the  year  33,  before  the 
healing  of  the  man  born  blind. ^  While  Catherine 
Emmerich  can  claim  but  little  authority  in  similar 
matters,  we  may  remark  what  she  says  of  the  cel- 
ebrated interview  of  Nicodemus  with  Jesus, ^ —  an 
interview  that  she  states  took  place  at  Bethany,  in 
the  house  of  Lazarus,*  which  we  may  consider  as 
a  sort  of  neutral  ground  favourable  to  such  meet- 
ings. The  part  that  she  assigns  to  Lazarus 
entirely  coincides  with  the  hypothesis  of  a  discreet 

^     Matth.,  XXVI,  6:   "In  domo  Simouis  leprosi." 

-  John,  IX,  22.  —  Cf.,  in  our  work  on  the  Passion,  ch.  II 
of  Book  I. 

3    John,  III,  1—21. 

•*  Visio-ris,  t.  I,  p.  444.  —  According  to  her  Joseph  of 
Arimethea  went  there  also. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  237 

adherence  to  the  doctrine  and  person  of  the 
Messiah.  The  brother  of  Martha  and  Magdalen 
entertained  the  idea  of  a  political  liberator  rather 
than  that  of  a  Messiah  who  was  to  build  np  a 
spiritual  kingdom,  —  being  partially  deceived  as 
to  the  origin,  nature,  and  mission  of  Jesus,  but  an 
admirer  of  His  doctrine  and  entirely  devoted  to 
His  person,  —  constituting  himself  in  some  meas- 
ure a  guide,  by  the  knowledge  which  his  position 
enabled  him  to  procure  as  to  the  tone  of  mind  at 
Jerusalem  and  the  disposition  of  the  great  Council 
or  of  the  Procurator.^  These  are  but  suppositions, 
it  is  true,  but  they  are  not  absolutely  contrary  to 
the  belief  sanctioned  by  the  Gospel  on  this  subject. 
We  do  not  see  why  the  Master  should  not  have  had 
som^e  disciples  known  but  to  a  few,  for  the  purpose 
of  maintaining  relations  profitable  to  all,  with  the 
wavering  or  even  with  His  adversaries.  Nowhere 
do  we  find  any  blame  attaching  to  Joseph  or  Nico- 
demus;  on  the  contrary  we  have  on  this  point  a 
significant  warning  from  Jesus  in  response  to  the 
impatience  of  the  Apostles:  "He  that  is  not  against 
you  is  for  you."^  The  fear  of  the  Jews  which 
restrained  Joseph,^  does  not  prevent  Saint  Matthew 
and  Saint  Mark  from  placing  him  in  the  rank  of 
the  disciples,'^  nor  Saint  Luke  from  praising  his 
goodness,    his    justice,    and    his    independence    in 

1  Vistons,  t.  I,  p.  285 ;  —  t.  II,  p.  347. 

-  Luke,  IX,  50:  "Qui  enim  non  est  adversum  vos,  pro 

vobis  est." 

3  John,  XIX,  38. 

4  Matth.,  XXVII,  57 :  —  Mark,  XV,  48. 


238  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

presence  of  the  members  of  the  Saiihedrin.^  Laz- 
arus could,  therefore,  without  incurring  censure, 
remain  in  the  obscurity  in  which  the  Gospel  seems 
to  keep  him  purposely  till  his  death  and  resur- 
rection. He  belonged  no  less  to  the  number  of 
those  whom  Jesus  loved,  this  at  least  we  have 
no  reason  to  doubt. 

When  obliged  to  fly  from  the  malice  of  the 
Jews,  the  Master  had  crossed  the  Jordan  and  sought 
refuge  among  the  defiles  of  Ephraim.  He  had 
been  there  more  than  six  weeks,  when  a  message 
came  to  Him  from  Bethany.  The  sisters  of  Lazarus 
sent  word  to  Him  that  Lazarus  whom  He  loved 
was  sick.^  There  is  not,  perhaps,  in  the  entire 
Gospel,  a  sweeter  or  more  gracious  sentence;  it 
reveals  to  us  the  whole  heart  of  Jesus  and  the  whole 
heart  of  these  two  admirable  women  who  typify 
in  the  highest  degree,  the  intelligence,  the  delicacy, 
and  the  strength  of  love. 

The  malady  from  which  Lazarus  suffered  was 
a  serious  one,  and  appears  to  have  been  of  long 
duration,^  if  we  take  the  expression  of  Saint  John 
literally,  '^Erat  languens,  he  was  languishing.^" 
Nonnus  has  attempted  to  specify  the  disease. 
According  to  him  it  was  a  low  fever  caused  by 
ulcers  on  the  legs,  which  brought  on  an  insupport- 

1     Luke,  XXIII,  50—51. 

-    John,  XI,  3:   "Quern  diligis  iufirmatur." 

^  John,  XI,  1:  "'Hv  8e  rts  dcrdevCjv.''* —  "Morbo  detineba- 
tur, "  says  the  Syriac  version. 

^  John,  XI,  1.  —  However,  according  to  Raban  Maur, 
lyazarus  usually  enjoyed  good  health:    "Floridse  juventutis." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  239 

able  depression  of  spirits.^  For  tlie  invalid,  Beth- 
any had  become  in  reality  the  hotise  of  sorroiv'^^ 
and  the  absence  of  the  divine  Friend  added  still 
more  to  its  sadness.  This  is  why  Martha  and 
Magdalen  hastened  to  inform  Jesus,  that  He  might 
at  least  bring  to  their  brother  the  consolation  of 
His  presence.  They  had  no  doubt  of  His  willing- 
ness to  return,  because  they  were  sure  of  His  affec- 
tion, and  the  beloved  disciple  justifies  their  con- 
fidence ;  in  fact  he  says,  "Jesus  loved  Martha  and 
her  sister  Magdalen,  and  Ivazarus." 

However,  after  having  received  the  news.  He 
contented  Himself  with  replying:  ''This  sickness 
is  not  unto  death,  but  for  the  glory  of  God:  that 
the  Son  of  God  may  be  glorified  by  it,"  —  and  He 
remained  two  days  longer  in  the  same  place  where 
the  messenger  had  found  Him.  Astonished  at  this 
delay,  the  Apostles  were  no  less  so  to  hear  Him 
say  on  the  third  day:  "lyCt  us  go  into  Judea 
again."  —  "Rabbi",  they  replied,  '^the  Jews  but 
just  now  sought  to  stone  Thee  ;  and  goest  Thou 
thither  again?"  —  Jesus  answered;  "Are  there 
not  twelve  hours  of  the  day  ?  If  a  man  walk  in 
the  day,  he  stumbleth  not,  because  he  seeth  the 
light  of  this  world;  but  if  he  walk  in  the  night,  he 
stumbleth,  because  the  light  is  not  in  him."  And 
while  they  strove  to  understand  His  thoughts,  the 
expression  of  which  seemed  somewhat  ambiguous, 

^  "Morboso,  gravia  babens  genua,  flagellabatnr  Lazarus 
aestu,  membrivora  plaga  tabefactus."  {Ex'plicaL  Evangel. 
sec.  Joannem,  loc.  cit.) 

2  "Beth-Anio",  according  to  the  Syriac  text:  "-Donius 
afflictio7iis.'" 


240  THE  FRIENDvSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

He  said  :  "lyazarus  our  friend  sleepeth;  but  I  go, 
that  I  may  awake  him  out  of  sleep."  —  "L,ord,  if 
he  sleep,"  observed  the  disciples,  "he  shall  do 
well. '  ^  It  was  so  long  since  the  poor  invalid  had  been 
able  to  sleep,,  that  the  thought  of  this  refreshing 
repose  had  brought  joy  to  their  hearts,  but  a  word 
sufficed  to  dispel  their  hopes.  —  ' 'Lazarus  is  dead. 
And  I  am  glad  for  your  sake  that  I  was  not  there, 
that  you  may  believe  :  but  let  us  go  to  him  !"  — 
"I^et  us  also  go,"  said  Thomas,  addressing  his 
colleagues,  "that  we  may  die  with  Him  1"  Then 
they  went  up  towards  Bethany  where  lyazarus  had 
slept,  the  sleep  of  the  tomb,  for  four  days. 

Now,  many  of  the  Jews  had  come  to  Martha 
and  Magdalen  to  offer  their  condolence  and  con- 
solations. As  soon  as  Martha  learnt  of  the  approach 
of  Jesus,  leaving  Magdalen,  she  hastened  to  meet 
Him  ;  and  running  to  the  Master  she  cried  out  to 
Him  in  broken  accents:  "Lord,  if  Thou  hadst  been 
here,  my  brother  had  not  died  !"  —  Then  recover- 
ing her  habitual  confidence  ev^en  in  the  depths  of 
her  sorrow,  she  added:  "But  now  also  I  know  that 
whatsoever  Thou  wilt  ask  of  God,  God  will  give 
it  Thee  !"  Was  it  possible  to  make  a  more  direct 
appeal  to  the  friendship  of  the  Man  or  the  omni- 
j)otence  of  God  ? — "Thy  brother  shall  rise  again," 
said  Jesus. — "Yes,  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  again 
in  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day."  Jesus  said  to 
her,  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life:  he  that 
believeth  in  Me,  although  he  be  dead,  shall  live: 
And  everyone  that  liveth,  and  believeth  in  Me, 
shall  not  die  for  ever.      Believest  thou  this  ?" 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  241 

For  an  instant  the  Man  disappeared  and  im- 
posed silence  on  friendship,  to  allow  the  All- 
Powerful  to  appear  and  to  speak.  The  scene  is 
one  of  incomparable  grandeur.  Here,  Jesus  is 
more  magnificent  than  on  Thabor,  and  we  should 
imagine  that  no  word  could  be  the  echo  of  His 
own,  had  we  not  the  reply  of  Martha:  —  "Yea, 
lyord,  I  have  believed  that  Thou  art  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living  God,  who  art  come  into  this 
world!" 

Then,  going  to  Magdalen,  she  said  to  her  in  a 
low  voice  :  "The  Master  is  come,  and  calleth  for 
thee."  Magdalen  rose  at  once  and  ran  to  Jesus. 
He  had  not  yet  come  into  the  house,  but  remained 
where  Martha  had  met  Him.  The  crowd  of  Jews 
followed,  believing  that  Magdalen  was  going  to 
vv^eep  over  the  tomb;  but  they  saw  her  throw  her- 
self at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  crying, —  she  also:  "Lord, 
if  Thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died." 
This  was  too  much  for  the  heart  of  the  divine 
Friend.  The  tears  of  Magdalen  and  her  companions 
troubled  Him,  and  He  trembled  with  agitation.  — 
"Where  have  you  laid  him?"  He  asked  through 
His  tears.  —  "Lord,  come  and  see,"  they  replied; 
and  whispering  low,  they  said  one  to  another : 
"How  He  loved  him  !"  Others,  it  is  true,  dared 
to  murmur:  "Could  not  He  that  opened  the  eyes 
of  the  man  born  blind,  have  caused  that  Lazarus 
should  not  die  ?"  —  But  without  taking  notice  of 
their  words.  He  came  to  the  tomb  and  stopped 
on  its  threshold. 

The  sepulchre  of  Lazarus  was  a  vault  hollowed 


242  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

out  of  the  solid  rock,  at  tlie  bottom  of  a  natural 
cave,  which  was  entered  by  some  steps  descending 
from  the  surface;  a  flag-stone  closed  its  mouth. ^  — 
"Take  away  the  stone, ^'  Jesus  commanded  amid 
general  astonishment,  for  custom  forbade  the 
touching  of  the  stone  after  the  third  day.  Martha 
ventured  to  speak:  "Lord",  she  said,  choosing 
words  in  keeping  with  the  trouble  of  the  divine 
Friend  while  recalling  to  Him  the  custom  which  He 
appeared  to  forget,  —  "Lord,  by  this  time  he 
stinketh  ;  for  he  hath  been  dead  four  days."  — 
"Did  I  not  say  to  thee,"  replied  the  Master  grave- 
ly, "that  if  thou  wilt  believe,  thou  shalt  see  the 
glory  of  God?"  Martha  understood;  the  stone 
was  removed,  and  standing  at  the  entrance  to  the 
tomb,  His  eyes  raised  to  Heaven,  Jesus  began  to 
pray:  "Father,  I  give  Thee  thanks  that  Thou  hast 
heard  Me.  And  I  know  that  Thou  hearest  Me 
always;  but  because  of  the  people  who  stand  about 
have  I  said  it;  that  they  may  believe  that  Thou 
hast  sent  Me."  Then,  in  majestic  tones.  He  cried 
out :  "Lazarus,  come  forth  !"  —  And  at  once,  im- 
pelled by  an  irresistible  force,  the  dead  man  came 
towards  them,  his  hands  and  feet  tied  with  band- 
ages, and  his  face  hidden  with  the  shroud.  — 
"Loose  him,"  Jesus  said  quietly,  "and  let  him  go." 
In  their  bewilderment  the  Pharisees  allowed 
him  to  pass  ;  but  they  were  sure  to  find  him  again, 

1  This  venerated  monument  is  much  injured  and  time- 
worn.  The  rock  "which  one  can  easily  see  was  of  clayish 
formation,"  says  Frere  Li^vin,  has  crumbled  away,  and  one 
is  obliged  to  conclude  that  the  burial-place  was  a  bank  sur- 
mounted by  a  vault,  according  to  custom. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  243 

and  to  seek  means  to  efface  the  impression  produced 
on  many  of  the  assembled  people,  and  on  the 
public  at  Jerusalem.  The  multitude,  in  fact,  hur- 
ried on  to  Bethany,  that  they  might  see  the 
wonder-worker  and  contemplate  the  man  raised 
to  life.^  Not  having  at  their  disposal  the  knowl- 
edge and  the  logic  with  which  M.  Renan  would 
astonish  the  nineteenth  century,^  they  were  reduced 
to  desire  the  death  of  him  whose  return  to  life  they 
could  not  deny.  They  then  came  together,  and 
held,  in  conjunction  with  the  Ancients,  the  Scribes, 
and  the  Priests,  under  the  presidency  of  Caiphas, 
that  fatal  council  at  which  the  death  of  Jesus  was 
decreed.^  Once  on  this  downward  course  it  was 
difficult  to  stop,  and  the  death  of  Lazarus  was  also 
resolved  upon*;  in  this  way  the  prophet  and  his 
living  witness  would  disappear  at  a  single  stroke, 
and  the  Synagogue  should  have  no  longer  any  fear 
of  its  peace  being  troubled. 

But  if  it  pleased  the  Master  to  be  for  the  mo- 
ment their  victim,  because  His  death  was  to  be  the 
salvation  of  the  world,  He  had  determined  that 
they  should  not  touch  His  disciple.  By  His  order, 
we  should  think,  Lazarus  disappeared.  We  do  not 
find  any  trace  of  him  either  on*  Calvary,  at  the 
sepulchre,    or  in    the   supper-room^:    nevertheless 

1  John,  XII,   9. 

2  Vie  de  Jes2is,  c.  XXII,  p.  359  and  following. 
•'    John.  XI,  47-53. 

^     Id.,  XII,   10. 

^  Raban  Maur,  generally  so  careful  to  bring  him  into 
prominence  (c.  XXXI  and  c.  XXXIV,  for  instance),  appears 
to  have  forgotten  him  completely  on  these  occasions.     Tradi- 


244  'I'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

we  cannot  admit  that  he  would  have  been  absent, 
if  a  higher  will  had  not  ordained  that  he  should 
stand  aside.  In  admitting,  with  Catherine  Em- 
merich, that  he  had  not  at  first  recognised  the 
divinity  of  his  Friend,  the  veil  of  doubt  must  have 
fallen  with  the  shroud,  and  the  truth  had  in  all 
likelihood  dawned  upon  him  in  the  shades  of  death, 
through  which  he  had  passed.  Gratitude  should 
have  lent  enthusiasm  and  stability  to  his  new  faith, 
which  would  necessarily  place  him  among  those 
who  surrounded  the  dying  Master.  However,  the 
Gospel  and  tradition,  while  noting  the  presence  at 
the  foot  of  the  Cross,  of  John,  Magdalen,  and  the 
other  pious  women,  make  no  mention  of  I,azarus. 
The  same  solicitude  which  had  prompted  Jesus  to 
say,  in  the  Garden  of  Olives,  ''If  you  seek  Me,  let 
these  go  their  way ^ ' '  ^  seems  to  have  inspired  the 
precautions  which  shielded  Lazarus.  Jesus  con- 
sented to  shed  His  own  blood,  but  it  would  have 
grieved  Him  too  much  to  allow  the  blood  of  His 
friends  to  be  shed  also.  If  He  was,  later  on,  to 
make  them  martyrs  for  their  faith,  the  present 
moment  was  not  propitious  for  their  testimony. 
He  alone  ought,  and  wished  to  appear,  as  His 
replies  to  the  pontiffs,  who  considered  His  disciples 
equally  guilty,  clearly  prove. ^  For  this  was  He 
born,  and  for  this  He  came  into  the  world,  to  give 

tion  is  also  sileut  on  this  point,  and  Catherine  Emmerich 
herself  has  only  a  few  unimportant  words  to  say  on  the  subject. 
(Douloureuse  Passion  c.  XXXVIII.) 

1  John,   XVIII,   8:     "Si    ergo   me   quaeritis,    sinite  hos 
abire." 

2  John,  XVIII,  19-20:   ''Rcro  palani  locutus  sum,"  etc. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  245 

testimony  to  the  truth  ^;  until  He  re-entered  into 
glory,  He  alone  assumed  the  responsibility  of  a 
mission  which  He  had  not  yet  shared  with  anyone. 

The  compulsory  retirement  of  Lazarus  did  not 
prevent  his  loving  or  serving  the  Master.  Pious 
beliefs  tell  us  that  immediately  after  the  Resurrec- 
tion, he  received  the  disciples  into  his  house, 
where  Jesus  frequently  came  to  instruct  them.^ 
A  special  farewell  should  have  been  vouchsafed  to 
him  when  the  divine  Friend  left  Bethany  for  the 
summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  on  the  day  of  the 
Ascension^:  this  should  not  surprise  us  —  quite  the 
contrary  —  for  we  know  the  tenderness  of  Jesus, 
and  the  devotion  of  lyazarus.  He  had  not  always 
seen  the  luminous  cloud  that  overshadowed  the 
glorified  humanity  of  the  Saviour,'^  but  he  had  no 
need  of  the  apparition  of  Angels  to  know  that  the 
moment  was  at  hand  when  he  should  see  a  new 
manifestation  of  His  power. '"' 

After  the  Ascension  and  Pentecost,  the  house 
of  Lazarus  continued  to  be  a  centre  of  reunion  for 
the  Apostles  and  their  new  converts.  Having 
distributed  generous  alms  in  the  neighbourhood^, 
the  brother  of  Martha  and  Magdalen  imitated  with 

^  Id.,  ibid.,  37:  ^''Ego  in  hoc  natus  et  ad  hoc  veni  in 
mundum,  ut  testimonium  perhibeam  veritati." 

2  Catherine  Emmerich,  Visions,  V.  partie,  ch.  XII, 
and  XIV. 

^     Id.,    Visio7is,  loc.  cit.,  ch.  XV. 

4  Raban  Maur  (  Vita  B.  Maries  Magdalencs,  c.  XXXI) 
does  not  seem  to  agree  here  with  Catherine.  He  appears  to 
think  that  Lazarus  was  present  at  the  Ascension. 

5  Act.  Apost.,  I,  10—11. 

^     Cath.  Emmerich,  Visions,  V.  partie,  c.  V. 


246  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

them,^  the  personal  sacrifice  of  the  Cyprian  levite, 
Barnabas,  who  placed  at  the  Apostle's  feet  the 
price  of  bis  goods  which  he  had  sold  for  the  profit 
of  the  Christian  community. ^  He  had  been  ordained 
priest,  and  soon  after  being  raised  to  the  episcopate^, 
he  laboured  through  a  thousand  difficulties,  for  the 
propagation  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Jews  of 
Bethania,  when  the  death  of  Stephen  and  the  fury 
of  Saul  placed  the  churches  of  Jerusalem  and  Judea 
in  so  great  danger.  The  first  consequence  of  this 
agitation  was  the  dispersion  of  the  Apostles  and 
the  most  prominent  disciples,  and  as  Galilee 
seemed  not  to  have  felt  the  reaction,  Lazarus  could 
safely  seek  refuge  there. 

But  in  again  approaching  Phoenicia,  which  his 
father  had  formerly  governed,  he  could  not  but 
think  of  carrying  to  them  the  tidings  of  joy;  then 
the  distance  from  the  coast  to  the  island  of  Cyprus 
was  so  short,  that  he  felt  drawn  to  that  people  who 
should  become  dear  to  him  in  his  eagerness  to  gain 
disciples  to  the  Gospel,  while  waiting  the  apostle 
destined  to  teach  them.  Lazarus  knew  Barnabas, 
and  was  undoubtedly  friendly  with  his  nephew, 
John-Mark,  son  of  the  Mary  in  whose  house  Peter 
was  received  when  he  left  the  prison  of  Agrippa.* 
Did  Barnabas,  who  was  sent  by  Peter  to  Antioch^, 

^  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XXXIV  ;— James  of  Vorag. : 
De  S.  Maria  Magdalena. 

2    Act.  Apost.,  IV,  36—37. 

"■  Raban  Maur,  loc.  cit.,  c.  XXXV.  —The  ancient  brev- 
iary of  Autun  leads  us  to  suppose  that  he  also  took  part  in  the 
government  of  the  Church  of  Jerusalem. 

4  Act.  Apost.,  XII,  12- 

5  Id.,  XI,  25. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  247 

to  study  the  movement  which  was  going  on  there 
in  favour  of  Jesus-Christ,  see  Lazarus  in  Phoenicia 
and  urge  him  to  preach  to  the  Israelites  of  Cyprus, 
or  did  Lazarus  obey  a  special  inspiration  in  going 
to  them?  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  decide,  but  it 
seems  reasonable  to  combine  both  inspirations, 
because  Barnabas  had  already  belonged  to  the  col- 
lege of  the  Ancients  who  directed  the  primitive 
Church,  and  Lazarus  had  too  much  humility  to 
take  on  himself  a  ministry  which  had  not  been 
suggested  to  him. 

But  in  any  case,  we  know  for  certain  that  the 
Gospel  was  announced  at  this  date  in  the  island 
of  Cyprus,  but  only  to  the  Jews,^  as  was  the 
custom  up  to  that  time;  and  that  Lazarus,  fixing 
his  see  at  Kition  or  Citium,^  became  the  Bishop  of 
this  new  Christian  community,^  which  soon,  of 
itself,  produced  preachers  fruitful  in  works  of  sal- 
vation.'' Four  years  passed  by,^  after  which  we 
again  find  the  brother  of  Magdalen  at  Joppa,  hav- 
ing returned  for  a  short  time  to  the  country  of  his 

1  Act.  Apost.,  XI,  19. 

2  Now  Larnaka,  on  the  east  coast  of  the  island.  It  was, 
according  to  the  ancient  Cyprians,  an  altogether  Syrian  town. 
The  Phoenician  name  Kitthn  was  given  by  the  Greeks  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Citiuyn. 

3  Rahan  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XXXV  and  XXXVI :  "Reve- 
rendissimo  fratre  ejus  (Magdalense)  Lazaro  tunc  apud  Cyprum 
pontificante."  —  Cf.  Natal  Ales:and.,  Hist.  EccL,  t.  Ill, 
Dissert.  17;  —  Menologe  des  Grecs  {Oriens  ckristianus,  t.  II, 
fol.   1055). 

^    Act.  Apost.,  XI,  20—21. 

'"  From  38  to  42,  supposing  that  Lazarus  did  not  go  to 
Cyprtfs  in  the  year  37,  which  seems  to  us  improbable,  but  not 
impossible. 


248  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

ancestors,  whence  persecution  was  at  last  to  exile 
him  for  ever.^ 

Herod  Agrippa,  wishing  to  please  the  San- 
hedrin,  had  put  James,  the  brother  of  John,  to 
death;  then  he  had  ordered  Peter  to  be  thrown 
into  prison,  intending  to  send  him  to  be  tortured 
during  the  Paschal  festivities.^  Miraculously  de- 
livered, the  chief  of  the  Apostles  had  given  his 
colleagues  the  signal  for  a  definite  dispersion, 
leaving  only  at  Jerusalem,  James,  the  hrotlier  of 
the  Lo7'd,  who  w^as  its  Bishop.  This  separation 
was  put  into  execution  during  a  popular  turmoil 
excited  by  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees.  The  Apostles 
had  been  able  to  fly  and  to  gain  the  frontiers  with- 
out being  arrested,  but  the  disciples  were  less 
fortunate. 

Peter  had  grouped  around  the  sisters  of  Laz- 
arus, the  Bishop  Maximin,  who  had  taken  charge 
of  the  church  of  Bethania,  — the  deacon  Parmenas, 
of  whom  the  Acts  might  have  said,  as  of  Stephen, 
full  of  strength  and  grace  before  God,  —  the  dis- 
ciple Cedonius,  the  blind  man  whose  sight  Jesus 
had  restored,^  —  Marcella,  the  favourite  servant  of 
Martha,  the  woman  who,  it  is  believed,  publicly 
extolled    the    maternity    of     Mary,'^    Trophimus, 

1  The  opinion  that  Lazarus  went  alone  to  Marseilles  to 
there  rejoin  his  sisters,  seems  to  us  to  have  little  probability, 
although  it  is  maintained  by  some  reliable  authorities.  —  Cf. 
Faillon  fMonuments  inedits,  t.  II),  quoting  from  Vie  de  Saint 
Lazare,  1636. 

2  Act.  Apost.,  XII,  1—4. 

3  John,  IX,  1—38. 

^  Ivuke,  XI,  27:  "Blessed  is  the  womb  that  bore 
Thee,"  etc. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  249 

Martial/  —  Evodius,  Synthex,  Epaphras,  and 
some  others  whose  names  remain  unknown.  An- 
other group,  presided  over  by  Mary,  the  wife  of 
Cleophas,  and  mother  of  James  the  Less  and  Jude, 
—  comprised  Mary  Salome,  the  mother  of  John 
the  Evangelist  and  James  the  Greater,  with  her 
servant  Sarah, ^  and  several  other  holy  women. 
On  leaving  Palestine,  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles 
had  sent  on  this  holy  company  towards  the  port  of 
Joppa,^  whence  it  should  cross  the  sea  to  Gaul, 
which  he  had  fixed  on  for  its  destination.  Was  he 
thus  executing  the  will  of  the  Master,  bequeathing 
to  our  country  these  living  relics  of  His  life,  as 
Pere  Lacordaire  says,"^  or  was  he  already  obeying 
that  impulse  of  the  heart  which,  impels  the  Vicars 
of  Jesus-Christ  towards  France  ?  It  is  the  secret 
of  this  gracious  Providence,^  to  whom  we  must 
return  thanks  for  having  "transported  Bethany 
across  the  seas  and  prepared  for  those  who  loved 
Him  an  unending  hospitality  on  shores  that  should 
be  for  ever  Christian."^ 

Jaffa,   built  upon  the  sea,  on  the  northern  bor- 

^  The  boy  who  provided,  in  the  desert,  the  loaves  and 
fishes  that  Jesus  multiplied  (Luke,  IX,  13;  John,  VI,  9),  ac- 
cording to  a  tradition  which  Baronius  has  recorded  in  his 
Annals,  year  74,  No.  15. 

2  Whom  some  have  regarded  as  the  repudiated  wife  of 
Pilate.  The  vagrant  Bohemians  have  taken  her  for  their 
patron. 

3  Now  Jaffa.  —  The  ancient  Jafo  of  Joshua  (XIX,  46). 
■*     Lacordaire,  Sainte  Marie-Madeleine. 

^  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XXXVI:  "Admirabili  ergo 
dispositionis  consilio,"  etc. 

^     Lacordaire,  Sainte  JMarie-Madeleliie,  c.  IL 


250  TIIK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

der  of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  was  the  only  port  throngh 
which  Palestine  liad  communication  with  the 
Mediterranean.  Subject  to  Roman  domination  in 
the  year  6,  it  shared  in  the  mixed  population 
which  prevailed  in  the  important  cities  of  tlie 
provinces,  particularly  in  Asia :  free  in  almost 
every  respect,  with  a  Roman  garrison  that  allowed 
anything  to  pass  that  did  not  concern  Rome  or 
Caesar,  —  insufficient,  moreover,  to  repress  any 
serious  disturbance,  as  it  happened  in  66.  At 
Joppa  the  new  faith  had  many  adherents,  among 
whom  Simon  the  Tanner,^  and  Tabitha^  are  still 
celebrated.  Peter  had  stayed  in  Simon's  house, 
and  it  was  there  he  had  the  vision  that  decided 
the  apostolate  of  the  Gentiles.^  This  is  why  the 
fugitives  from  Bethany  might  hope  to  wait  quietly 
there  the  opportunity  of  embarking  for  the  West. 
But  God  disposed  of  them  in  quite  another  way. 

The  malice  of  the  Jews  sometimes  pursued  to 
a  great  distance  those  whom  it  designed  to  strike. 
After  having  been  its  instrum.ent  at  Damascus, 
Paul  was  to  become  its  victim  at  Antioch,  Iconium, 
Thessalonica,  and  also  elsewhere.  The  violence 
exercised  against  the  disciples  of  Christ  was  known 
at  Joppa,  and  the  thought  of  renewing  it  against 
His  most  intimate  friends  should  find  favour  among 
the  populace  who  were  so  easily  roused.     At  the 

^  Act.  Apost.,  X,  6:  ''He  (Peter)  lodgeth  with  one  Simon 
a  tanner,  whose  house  is  by  the  seaside." 

-  Id.,  IX,  36 — 42:  ''Tabitka,  which,  being  interpreted,  is 
called  Dorcas." 

2  Act.  Apost.,  X,  9-15.  — A  small  mosque  has  replaced 
the  oratory  built  on  the  site  of  this  house. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  251 

moment  when  Lazarus  and  his  companions  were 
preparing  to  embark,  the  crowd  rushed  upon  them, 
inflicting  insults  and  injuries,  pillaged  the  ship, 
dispersed  the  crew,  and  to  finish  all,  left  them 
without  pilot ^  or  rigging-  to  the  dangers  of  the 
sea.  We  have  already  said  that  egress  from  the 
port  of  Jaffa  is  almost  impossible  to  an}'  except 
experienced  sailors,  particularly  in  high  winds,  on 
account  of  the  reefs  which  bar  the  entrance,  and 
to  cross  which  one  must  pass  at  a  favourable  tide, 
always  dif^cult  to  utilise  at  the  f)recise  moment. 
Thus,  to  compel  the  friends  of  Jesus  to  pass  the 
channels  of  the  roadstead,  was  to  send  them  to 
certain  death.  But  God  watched  over  them.  The 
wind,  blowing  from  the  south-east,"  soon  carried 
them  out  of  sight  and  beyond  reach  of  attack, 
bearing  them  gently  towards  more  hospitable 
shores.  Probably  they  met  some  strange  vessel, 
and  were  revictualled  by  it,  without  touching  at 
any  point  on  the  coasts,  for  Raban  Maur,  who 
minutely  describes  their  voyage  across  the  Medi- 
terranean, indicates  no  port  touched  at  before 
Marseilles  ;*  hence  v/e  have  the  proof  that  no  tra- 
dition has  preserved  the  memory  of  their  voyage 
along  the  coasts  of  Africa  and  Italy. 

1  "Sine  aliquo  gubernatore,"  James  of  Voragine  simply 
remarks,  but  does  not  mention  the  loss  of  the  rigging. 

-  "Sine  velo  ac  remigio"  (Brev.  Rom.  Ex  Act.  prob.y.  — 
In  a  very  ancient  Life  of  Samt  Martha^  which  Raban 
■  Maur  knew,  we  find  the  same  details:  "Remis  ablatis  vel 
gubernaculis  et  hnfus  modi  naiiticis  armamentis  et  omnibus 
cojaiis  et  subsidiis." 

s    "Flante  Euro"",  says  Raban  Maur,  op.  ciL,  c.  XXXVII. 

*    De  Vita  B.  Mari^  MagdalenjE,  c.  XXXVII. 


253  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

Modern  criticism  has  disputed  —  more  or  less 
vigorously,  according  to  circumstances  —  the  story 
of  this  departure  from  Joppa,  which,  it  says,  is 
merely  an  adaptation  of  a  belief  accepted  in  the 
twelfth  century.  Without  pausing  to  discover  the 
origin  of  the  belief,  we  may  say  at  once  that  its 
probability  leads  us  to  regard  it  as  true.  This  is 
why  we  have  not  hesitated  to  admit  it,  and  why 
we  desire  to  retain  it,  till  we  have  evidence  to  the 
contrary.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  we  do  not  believe 
a  miracle  necessary  to  explain  the  successful  pass- 
age of  the  fugitives  across  the  Ionian  and  the 
Tyrrhenian  seas,  which  those  going  to  Gaul  and 
the  neighbouring  countries  usually  traversed.  The 
account  of  the  voyage  made  by  the  first  Apostles  of 
Spain  ^  contains  the  same  details  with  regard  to 
the  absence  of  pilot  and  rigging,  which  seems  to 
sufficiently  confirm  the  belief  that  we  have  put 
forward.  This  account  supposes,  in  fact,  that  the 
friends  of  Jesus-Christ  and  the  companions  of  Saint 
Ctesiphon  sailed  in  the  same  ship  and  followed  the 
same  course.''^ 

When  the  vessel  touched  land,*^  the  exiles  found 
themselves  at  the  mouth  of  a  wide  river,  forming, 
like  the  Nile,  a  vast  marshy  delta.  This  was  the 
Rhone,   and  this  delta   is   still   recognised   in  the 

^  This  account  is  anterior  to  the  10th  century.  (Floria- 
censis  vetus  Bibliotheca.  Opera  Joann.  A.  Bosco:  Celestin  ; 
Comment,  de  Translatione  S.  Jacobi.) 

2     E.  de  F.,  Sainte  Blarihe,  p.   92   and   following. 

^  At  the  place  anciently  called  (antiquitus)  by  the  name 
Ithaecados.     (Gervais  de  Tilbury,  Otia  irnperialia.') 


THR  FRIP:NDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  253 

Caniargue,  a  gloomy  solitude  cut  up  with  ponds, 
swamp,  and  pasturage,  between  Aries  and  the  sea.^ 
Only  shepherds  and  boatmen  frequented  these 
waters  and  pasture  lands,  —  simple  people,  who 
welcomed  the  new  arrivals  kindly,  listened  with 
docility  to  their  teachings,  and  thus  became  the 
first  fruits  of  the  apostolate  in  Gaul. 

Leaving  behind  tliem  Mary,  the  mother  of 
James,  Salome,  and  their  servant  Sarah,  vvdiom 
Trophimus  was  to  take  under  his  charge,  after  he 
had  established  himself  in  the  neighbouring  city, 
Lazarus  and  his  other  companions  went  towards 
Marseilles,  guided  by  the  fishermen  of  the  Vaccares, 
whom  we  believe  to  have  been  colonists  from  Mar- 
seilles.^ Trophimus  remained  at  Aries  ;  several  of 
his  companions  reached  the  centre  and  west  of  Gaul  ,^ 
so  that  the  little  band  was  very  much  diminished 
v/hen  it  reached  the  gates  of  the  Athens  of  the 
Gauls,  the  learned  and  cultured  city  which  had 
given  lessons  in  eloquence  to  Cicero  and  Julius 
Csesjar,  the  fortunate  city,  "where  Greek  elegance," 
according  to  Tacitus  (who  forgets  Petronius), 
"mingled  with  the  rudeness  of  provincial  man- 
ners." The  welcome  there  could  not  have  been 
so  enthusiastic  as  on  the  shores  of  the  Camargue. 

1  V.  Lentheric,  Les  villes  mortes  du  Golfe  de  Lyon.  — 
It  is  a  triangle  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  town  of  Aries,  on 
the  west  by  the  town  of  Aiguesmortes,  and  on  the  east  by  the 
Gulf  of  Fos. 

2  Cf.  Lamoureux,  Mafiiiel  pour  le pHerinage  des  Saintes 
Maries,  p.  12.  —  The  estuary  of  the  Rhone  was  then  called 
Gradus  Massilianorurn. 

Raban  Maur,  op.cit.  — Jacob,  de  Vorag.,  loc.  cit.,   etc. 


254  '^HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

The  descendants  of  the  Fhoceans  seemed  not  to 
remember  the  hospitality  that  had  greeted  their  an- 
cestors on  their  arrival  in  the  land  of  the  Segobrian 
Celts.  I^ess  happy  than  their  companions  of  the 
Kuxine,  Lazarns,  Martha,  and  Magdalen  remained 
abandoned  for  several  days  under  the  peristyle  of 
tlie  Temple  of  Diana, ^  waiting  in  vain  for  any 
mark  of  sympathy.  Then  the  words  of  Martha 
drew  the  crowd, '"^  which  assembled  from  curiosity; 
Magdalen's  charm,  it  is  said,  attracted  the  v/ife  of 
the  chief  magistrate  of  the  city,^  and  the  number 
of  conversions  soon  recompensed  the  zeal  of  the 
saintly  friends  of  the  Saviour.  Lazarus  was  naturally 
destined  to  occupy  the  episcopal  throne  of  the  new 
christian  community,  and  for  thirty  years  he  gave 
evidence  of  all  the  virtues  proper  to  a  Bishop.^ 

These  thirty  years  saw  many  events  accom- 
plished that  were  either  useful  or  hurtful  to  the 
Church  and  Empire.  Caligula,  Claudius,  Nero, 
Galba,  Otho,  Vitellius,  occupied  successively  in 
Rome  a  throne  stained  with  blood,  to  which  Ves- 

^  It  became  later  the  church  of  Notre-Darne-la-MajoVy 
now  destroyed. 

-  Catherine  Emmerich,  Visions,  VI.  partie,  c.  VII.  — 
Cf.  Brev.  Rom.,  die  XXIX  Julii. 

2  Jacob.  Vorag.,  De  beata  Maria  Magdalena.  —  Mar- 
seilles was  governed  by  three  supreme  magistrates  or  trium- 
virs, representing  the  Great  Council,  and  whom  the  Actes  de 
Saint  Lazare  call  consuls. 

*  Brev.  Rom  ; —  Brev.  Augustodun.  Acta  Eccl.  Massil. 
—  **A  most  faithful  shepherd,  vigilantly  watchful  over  his 
flock  ....  gentle  in  his  humility,  prosperous  in  his  poverty, 
beautiful  in  his  purity,  fervent  in  his  charity,  he  comforted 
the  Lord's  sheep." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  255 

pasiau  succeeded  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
and  set  at  naught  the  nationality  and  priesthood  of 
Israel.  When  the  year  72  began,  Peter  and  Paul 
had  suffered  martyrdom  at  Rome,  and  several  other 
Apostles  in  various  regions^-  John,  almost  the  only 
one  remaining  of  the  first  companions  of  the 
Master,  was  preparing  the  fourth  Gospel,  and  pre- 
siding over  the  infant  Church  in  Asia  Minor. 
Christianity,  persecuted  in  Palestine,  had  already 
overrun  almost  the  whole  of  the  empire,  ovnng  to 
a  relative  peace  which  Nero  had  disturbed  for  a 
time,  but  which  was  quickly  re-established  under 
the  pacific  influence  of  VesjDasian.  Doctrines  were 
formulated,  the  hierarchy  organised,  the  supremacy 
of  the  See  of  Rome  firmly  assured.  The  three 
first  Gospels  were  in  the  hands  of  all  the  faithful, 
as  well  as  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  Peter,  and  James, ^ 
—  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  —  the  Letters  and  the 
Constitutions  of  Clement.  Frequent  visits  kept 
the  Christians  in  touch  with  each  other,  and  with 
the  head  of  Catholicity,  as  we  see  by  the  voyage  of 
Alexander  of  Brescia,  who  came,  in  the  reign  of 
Claudius,  to  visit  I^azarus  at  Marseilles,  and  Maxi- 
min  at  Aix,^  and  by  the  journey  which  the  chief 
magistrate   of    Marseilles    and    his    wife    made    to 

^  Saint  Andrew,  Saint  James  the  Ivcss,  Saint  Bartholo- 
mew, etc.  The  date  of  the  martyrdom  of  Saint  Thomas  and 
of  Saint  Matthew  is  uncertain :  it  is  said  to  have  occurred  in 
the  year  80,  that  of  the  death  of  Saint  Simon  and  Saint  Jude. 

2  Perhaps  also  that  of  Barnabas,  which  the  ancients  held 
in  great  esteem. 

2    Acta  S.  Alexandri  (Bolland.  ad  26.  Aug.). 


256  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JRSUS. 

visit  Saint  Peter  at  Roiue.^  The  Gauls,  evan- 
gelised from  one  extremity  of  their  country  to  the 
other,  knew  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Bishops  of  the 
southern  provinces  formed  around  L<azarus  a  won- 
derful circle  of  sons,  disciples,  and  friends. 

But  happy  as  his  soul  might  be  at  the  success 
obtained,  it  could  not  but  feel  sad  sometimes  in 
the  loneliness  in  which  the  departure  of  Magdalen 
for  Sainte-Baume,  and  of  Martha  for  Tarascon, 
had  left  it.  In  going  away,  the  two  holy  women 
had  taken  with  them  the  last  reflection  of  the  sun 
of  Palestine,  and  the  last  trace  of  the  proximity  of 
Jesus.  No  longer  able  to  look  towards  the  Bast 
without  perceiving  the  death  image  of  Sion  in 
ruins,  and  Israel  bathed  in  blood,-  had  not  Lazarus 
the  right  to  seek  around  him  a  less  sorrowful  re- 
flection of  country  and  friendship  ?  God  had  taken 
that  from  him  with  all  the  rest,  and,  placed 
between  these  two  barriers,  the  sea  and  the  moun- 
tains that  closed  the  way  towards  those  he  loved, 
his  heart  was  oppressed  sometimes,  while  tears 
welled  in  his  eyes  at  the  thought  of  those  whom 
he  should  never  see  again  on  earth. 

Soon  came  other  anxieties  and  anguish.  After 
the  extremely  precise  testimony  of  Orosius  and 
Sulpicius  Severus,  the  edicts  of  Nero,  remaining 

^  Jacob.  A.  Vorag.  (B.  Maria  Magdaleua).  This  voyage, 
although  somewhat  of  a  legendary  character,  is  not  improb- 
able in  itself,  and  is  in  complete  accord  with  the  ideas  of 
the  time. 

2  The  taking  of  Massada  by  I^ucilius  Bassus  (22  April  72) 
had  just  completed  the  conquest  of  Palestine  and  the  ruin  of 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  257 

ill  vigour,  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  magistrates 
the  power  of  molesting  the  Christians  or  of  ignoring 
them.  From  time  to  time  the  whim  of  a  proconsul 
or  pretor  raised  scaffolds,  without  any  specific 
intention  of  using  them,  and  this  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  Melito^  and  Tertullian'^  do  not  state  that 
any  persecution  took  place  between  the  reigns  of 
Nero  and  Domitian.  The  Flavians,  from  the  first 
having  little  sympathy  with  the  Christians,  left 
them,  however,  in  peace,  particularly  since  they 
had  taken  a  liking  to  the  Jews  admitted  to  their 
court.  There  was  not,  then,  much  to  fear  from 
Vespasian  and  his  lieutenants  in  the  provinces,  but 
danger  might  always  come  from  another  quarter. 

In  those  turbulent  cities  bordering  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean,  — Alexandria,  Smyrna,  Naples, 
Syracuse,  — where  the  population,  essentially  cos- 
mopolitan, was  perpetually  disturbed,  there  were 
frequent  outbursts  of  fanaticism  against  which  the 
police  of  the  decurions  were  powerless.  Recent 
events  in  Syria  and  Palestine  had  stirred  up  feel- 
ings against  the  Jews,  whom  they  affected  some- 
times to  confound  with  the  Christians,  particularly 
when  these  were  of  Jewish  origin.^    Massacres  had 

Israel.  Nearly  1,200,000  dead  and  97,000  prisoners  attested 
the  obstinate  resistance  and  overwhelming  destruction  of  the 
Jews.  (V.  Champagny,  Rome  et  la  Judee,  cit.  Josephus* 
Bell.  Jud.,  V  and  VI.) 

1  Ap.  Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccl.,  VI,  24. 

2  Apolog.,  5. 

3  This  confusion  became  almost  unavoidable  wheu  cer- 
tain Jewish  sects  called  themselves  by  the  names  sometimes 
applied  to  the  Christians:  Galileans,  Nazareans,  etc.  (Baro- 
nius,  AnnaL,  of  the  year  74). 


258  THE  FRIENDSKiPS  OK  JESUS. 

dyed  with  blood  the  streets  of  several  i\siatic  and 
Greek  cities,  with  which  Marseilles  was  in  daily 
communication.  Therefore,  it  was  easy  to  foresee 
that  the  slightest  incident  would  provoke  a  popular 
movement,  fraught  with  disastrous  consequences.^ 
But  the  Jews  did  not  always  afford  the  pretext  for 
these  insurrections:  in  many  instances  the  respon- 
sibility of  these  revolts  rested,  at  least  partly,  with 
themselves,  and  it  was  to  be  feared  that  it  was 
the  same  in  other  places.  Those  among  them  who 
lived  out  of  Asia,  in  the  remote  provinces  of  the 
Empire,  had  but  a  very  indifferent  regard  for  the 
prophecies,  being  rather  occupied  with  their  trafSc 
and  their  fortune;  almost  identified  with  the  pa- 
gans among  whom  they  had  lived  so  long,  they 
remained  tranquil  during  the  progress  of  the  cam- 
paign of  Vespasian  against  the  revolutionists  of 
Palestine.  ''But",  says  Champagny,  "the  down- 
fall of  Jerusalem  which  should  have  terrified  them 
and  rendered  them  crestfallen,  excited  and  roused 
them.  The  victory  of  Titus  cast  upon  the  world 
a  crowd  of  fugitive  Israelites.  All  the  hired 
assassins  were  not  at  Massada,  and  to  plead  their 
cause,  the  most  ancient  and  most  tenacious  of 
the  Jewish  revolutionary  factions,  many  victims, 
many  missionaries,  many  heroes,  appeared  in 
the  synagogues  of  the  Roman  empire.  Their 
doctrine,  that  God  is  the  only  sovereign,  was 
propagated     more    and     more     at     the    moment 

^     Champagny,    Rome   ei  la  Judee,    t.    I.  —  Paul  Allart, 
Hist,  des  Tersecutions,  t.  I. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  259 

when  earthly  power  pressed  most  heavily  over 
Judea."  ^ 

In  towns  of  oriental  origin  and  mixed  popnla- 
tion,  sncli  as  Marseilles,  excitement  must  have  run 
high  at  this  period,  and  the  mutual  understanding 
between  the  chiefs  of  the  Synagogue  and  the 
Roman  magistrates  for  the  repression  of  agitators, 
should  end  in  violence  of  every  kind.  In  similar 
cases,  the  hatred  of  the  Jews  for  the  Christians 
took  the  place  of  the  hatred  of  the  pagans  for  the 
Israelites, —  more  especially  if  faith  in  Jesus  Christ 
had  brought  about  developments  ca])able  of  exciting 
the  jealousy  of  the  votaries  of  Moses.  Besides,  the 
anxiety  of  Vespasian  to  seek  out  and  suppress  the 
descendants  of  David,  in  order  to  nullify  the 
prophecies  regarding  this  family,^  should  have 
brought  danger  to  Lazarus  and  his  friends,  which 
fatally  compromised  the  Christians  under  their 
care,  however  little  a  denunciation  rendered  them 
liable  to  prosecution. 

This  contingency  seems  to  have  been  realised 
in  the  year  72,  we  know  not  by  what  chain  of 
circumstances.^     All  that  we  can  say  is  that  during 

^  Champagny,  Rome  et  la  Judee,  c.  XVI.  —  Cf.  Baronius, 
Aunal.,  of  the  year  74  ;  —  S.  Epiphaues,  Haeres.,  XIX. 

-  Baronius,  Afinal.,  ad  aim.  73,  No.  11,  cit.  Eusebius, 
Hist.,  lib.  Ill,  c.  2,  (On  the  authority  of  the  chronology  of 
Baronius,  we  must  trace  back  these  researches  to  the  date 
which  we  have  accepted.) 

^  The  Actes  de  S.  Lazare  fix  the  date  of  his  martyrdom 
under  Domitian.  "Regnante  Domitiano  Caesare.  "  But  it  is 
difficult  to  make  this  assertion  agree  with  certain  other  docu- 
ments. However,  the  death  of  Lazarus  has  been  fixed  at 
various  dates  by  ancient  authors.     (V.  vS.  Epiphanes,  etc.) 


26o  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

this  year  we  find  Lazarus  and  the  faithful  of  Mas- 
silia,  refugees  in  the  open  crypts  beside  the  rock 
that  then  overhung  the  old  port  ^  on  the  southern 
side.  There  is  still  shown  in  the  subterranean 
church  of  Saint  Victor,  to  the  left  of  the  altar,  a 
bench  cut  in  the  stone,  on  which  the  holy  Bishop 
sat  when  presiding  at  the  ceremonies  of  worship. 
This  retreat  was  not  .sufficiently  secure,  and  the 
public  slaves,  charged  by  the  police,^  soon  dis- 
covered the  illustrious  refugee,  whom  they  dragged 
forth,  inflicting  serious  injuries  by  their  blows. 

The  riotous  mob  wished  to  punish  without 
delay  the  apostasy  of  the  Christians,  and  brought 
them  straight  to  the  tribunal,  situated  at  a  great 
distance  from  the  place  where  they  had  been  sur- 
prised. The  town,  in  fact,  was  built  on  the  other 
side  of  the  port,  in  the  position  now  occupied  by 
old  Marseilles,  —  from  the  Cannebiere  to  the 
Major;  and  the  Pretorium,  if  it  were  near  the 
public  prisons,  must  have  stood  between  the  rising 
ground  of  Saint-Iyaurent,  and  that  of  Moulins,  a 
little  to  the  north,  near  the  Place  de  Linche,  where 
the  ruins  of  these  prisons  still  exist. ^  The  way 
was  long,  and  must  have  been  most  painful  to  the 
old  man,  as  he  was  dragged  along  with  curses,  and 

1  The  Lacydon  of  the  Greeks,  on  the  north  of  which 
stood  the  tower.  —  The  rock  that  hangs  over  the  south  port 
is  now  the  Fort  Saint-Nicolas.  The  church  of  Saint-Victor, 
built  over  the  crypt  of  Saint  Lazarus,  is  near  that  part  of  the 
port  called  Bassin  de  Car^nage. 

2  Cf.  Dion,  LIV,  and  LV. 

3  V.  Faillon,  Monuments  inedits ;  —  Grosson,  Recueil 
des  Antiq.  de  Marseille. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  261 

threats,  and  bad  treatment,  which,  doubtless,  re- 
called to  him  the  way  from  Gethsemani  to  the 
tribunal  of  Caiphas/  Like  Pilate,  perhaps,  the 
Roman  magistrate '^^  may  have  found  the  zeal  of  his 
agents  and  the  eagerness  of  the  multitude  inoppor- 
tune. The  edicts  of  Nero  had  not  been  revoked, 
but  Caesar- Vespasian  allowed  them  to  remain  in 
abeyance,  since  he  was  anxious  to  maintain  peace 
around  him  and  repress  the  agitations  of  the  pop- 
ulace. Perhaps,  like  Pilate  also,  the  judge  was 
constrained  to  yield  to  the  menacing  demands  with 
which  he  was  assailed,  and  condemn  the  accused 
to  be  scourged,  then  shut  up  in  the  adjoining 
prison  after  he  had  publicly  confessed  his  belief  in 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.^ 

To  be  imprisoned  in  a  dungeon  deprived  of  air 
and  light,^  which  recalls  the  Tullianum  of  the 
Mamertine  prison,  was  so  dreadful  to  the  ancients, 
that  they  praised  Otho  when  he  did  not  condemn 
Cornelius  Dolabella,  the  father  of  Galba,  to  prison, 
suspected  though  he  was  of  aspiring  to  the  em- 
pire.^    It  was  an   earnest   of  approaching  death, 

^     V.  Acta  S.  Ivazari  (fragments),  in  the  Annals  Massil. 

2  The  tribunal  was  composed  of  several  magistrates,  for 
the  Actes  say :  "Consulibus",  who  must  have  been  the  trium- 
virs of  whom  we  have  already  spoken 

3  The  prison  of  Saint  Lazarus  is  still  shown  at  Marseilles, 
—  a  little  square  chamber,  at  the  north-east  angle  of  the 
oriental  gallery  of  the  Caves  de  Saint-Sauveur,  on  the  Place 
de  Linche. 

^  "In  carcere  obscurissimo  subterraneo."  Act.  S.  La- 
zari  (fragments  preserved  in  the  liturgy  of  Autun). 

s  Tacitus,  Hist.,  I,  88:  "Neqae  arcta  custodia  neque 
obscura." 


262  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

and  no  one  came  out  therefrom  except  to  torture, 
unless  the  lictor  had  already  accomplished  his 
office,  as  in  the  case  of  the  accomplices  of  Catiline 
and  the  vanquished  heroes  of  Gaul  and  Asia ; 
whence  the  name  —  Carnificina,  the  place  of  the 
executioner.^ 

Lazarus  was  thence  to  be  escorted  to  the  altar 
of  Mars,^  and  to  confess  for  the  last  time  his  Master 
and  his  Friend  :  "Raised  from  the  dead  by  Christ, ' ' 
he  said  vehemently,  "I  have  lived  for  Him,  and 
I  have  nothing  more  to  do  but  to  die  for  Him!" — 
a  reply  deserving  every  torture  in  the  judgment  of 
those  sweet-mannered  lonians,  among  whom  "the 
sword  of  the  headsman  grew  rusty.  "^  By  the 
judge's  order  the  sides  of  the  martyr  were  torn 
with  iron  combs  and  his  shoulders  burnt  with 
metal  ]Dlates  :  then  he  was  laid  on  a  gridiron  red- 
dened at  the  fire,  so  that  there  remained  no  part 
of  his  poor  body  that  did  not  experience  atrocious 
suffering.*  Useless  trouble!  Lazarus  did  not  seem 
to  feel  either  the  bitings  of  the  steel  or  the  burning 
of  the  fire,  lost  as  he  was  in  the  vision  of  Christ 
seated  at  the  right  hand  of  His  Father.  The  lictor 
then  took  him  and  gave  him  as  a  target  to  the 
archers  of  the  Prsetorian  Guard  ;    the  arrows,   Vv^e 

^  Rich,  Dictionnaire,  vis.  Career,  Carnificina,  Tullia- 
nuni. 

2  "Ante  Martis  simulacrum."  This  determines  the  place 
of  confession  and  martyrdom  in  the  enclosure  of  the  citadel, 
where  the  idols  of  Mars  and  Apollo  were  kept. 

3  Durny,  Hist,  des  Grees,  t.  I,  p.  716. 

^  Act.  S.  Lazari  ("fragments  found  in  the  ancient  brev- 
iaries of  Autun,  Nantes,  and  Marseilles). 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  263 

are  told,  refused  to  penetrate  his  flesh,  and  they 
were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  sword  to  end 
his  life.^  It  was  the  first  day  of  the  kalends  of 
September,'-^  of  the  Roman  year  825,  the  fourth 
of  the  principality  of  Vespasian,  who  then  shared 
the  honours  of  the  consulate  with  his  son  Titus, — 
the  fifth  of  the  pontificate  of  Saint  Clement,  the 
second  successor  of  Saint  Peter. ^  On  this  first  day 
of  the  kalends,  the  priests  of  the  idols  were  accus- 
tomed to  announce  to  the  people  the  feasts  that 
they  should  celebrate  during  the  month;  they  little 
suspected  that  tlie  hand  of  the  true  God  would 
inscribe,  on  the  calendar  of  His  immortal  Church, 
a  feast  which  the  centuries  would  celebrate  for 
ever. 

Thus  Lazarus  paid  his  debt  to  the  friendship 
which  had  formerly  drawn  him  from  death  !  He 
had  given  life  for  life,  and  his  last  sigh  must  have 
expired  in  a  smile.  He  went  to  Jesus  with  peace- 
ful soul,  certain  of  the  sweet  welcome  which  the 
Church  wishes  for  her  children  about  to  quit  the 
world,  and  he  was  sure  of  having  a  place  among 
those  who  sit  with  Him  in  heaven,*  apostles,  vir- 
gins,   and  martyrs.     The  disciples  who  gathered 

1  Actes  de  V Eglise  de  Marseille ;  —  Relation  des  reli- 
gieux  de  Bethanie,  etc. 

2  1st  September  72  of  the  common  era.  —  Others  say 
3 1st  August,  because  they  read  pridie  calendas,  —  instead  of 
prima  die  calendarutn. 

^     He  had  succeeded  in  67  to  Saint  I^inus. 

^  "May  Jesus  meek  and  smiling  meet  thee  and  decree, 
that  thou  shalt  be  forever  of  the  number  of  those  who  are 
seated  around  Him."     (Commendatio  animae  in  transitu.) 


264.  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

his  remains  and  placed  them  in  the  crypt  where 
he  had  exercised  the  episcopal  ministry,  should 
have  engraved  upon  his  tomb  the  words  that  are 
the  epitome  of  his  history,  and  his  panegyric, 
those  which  the  Son  of  God  spoke  to  the  Apostles: 
"Lazarus  amicus  noster  dormit,  sed  vado  ut  a 
somno  excitem  eum:  Lazarus  our  friend  sleepeth\ 
but  I  am  here,  ready  to  awake  him,  to  open  for 
him  the  joyous  activity  of  My  eternal  day!"- 

'  "Percussa  cervice  a  spiculatore  iu  Deo  dulciter  ob- 
dormivit,  juxta  id  Christi  dicentis:  **S.  Lazarus  amicus  nostei" 
dormit."  —Act.  S.  Lazari  (in  liturg.  augustodun.). 

2  John,  VIII,  56:  "Your  father  Abraham  rejoiced  that 
he  might  see  My  day  :  he  saw  it,  and  was  glad." 


Chapter  II. 

Martha. 

"Now  Jesus  loved  Martha." 
John  XI,  5. 

The  traveller  who  wends  his  way  from  Jericho  to 
Jerusalem  passes,  when  leaving  Ouady-el-Haoudh, 
a  fountain  at  which  it  is  usual  to  rest,  and  which 
bears  the  name  of  the  fountain  of  the  Apostles  \ 
the  En-Chemeh  of  the  Bible.'^  On  the  right,  a 
footpath  winds  up  the  rocky  hills  and  ends  on  a 
plateau,  from  which  the  view  extends  to  the  east, 
as  far  as  the  mountains  of  Moab  above  the  road 
from  Jericho,  the  Valley  of  the  Jordan,  and  the 
Dead  Sea,  —  to  the  south,  over  the  hills  and 
valleys  which  rise  and  fall  in  the  direction  of 
Bethlehem  and  Herodium,^  —  to  the  west,  over 
the  summit  of  Olives  and  a  village  in  the  inter- 
vening space,  surmounted  by  the  ruins  of  a  tower 
which  is  easily  seen  to  be  of  Gothic  construction. 
This  tower  has  been  named  by  the  Christians  the 
Castle  of  lyazarus,  and  the  village  owes  to  the  Arabs 
the  name  of  Al-Aizirieh.     It  is  Bethany,  the  place 

1  In  arabic  Ain  el  Haoicdh,  the  fountain  of  the  Angel. 

2  "Passing  thence  to  the  north,  and  going  out  to  Ense- 
niesy  that  is  to  say  the  fountain  of  the  sun."  (Jos.,  XVIII,  17.) 

^  Djebel  Fureidis,  or  Mont  des  Francs,  to  the  S.  E.  of 
Bethlehem.  Close  by  is  seen  Aboudiss,  probably  the  Bahurim 
of  the  Bible.     (II.  Reg.,  XVI,  5.) 

(265) 


266  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

the  Saviour  honoured  so  often  with  His  presence, 
because  of  the  friends  whose  hospitality  He  sought. 
There  lived  Lazarus,  Martha,  and  Magdalen,  and 
there  is  still  shown  the  site  of  the  house  where 
Martha  devoted  herself  to  serve  the  Master, — that 
of  the  dwelling  of  Simon  the  Leper,  where  Mary 
renewed  the  anointing  of  Capharnaum,  —  and 
lastly,  the  tomb  from  which  Lazarus  arose  at  the 
command  of  Jesus.  But  while  Bethany  appears 
to  thus  belong  to  the  whole  family,  it  is  more 
especially  Martha's,  for  the  Gospel  designates  her 
alone  as  the  hostess  of  the  divine  traveller  when 
on  His  way  from  the  Jordan  to  Jerusalem. 

In  the  first  century  of  our  era  Bethany  was  a 
regular  city  ^  with  a  numerous  population  and  every 
appearance  of  prosperity,  as  was  still  testified  in 
the  time  of  Raban  Maur,  by  the  remains  of  ancient 
buildings.^  Its  position,  only  two  miles  from  Jeru- 
salem, rendered  intercourse  with  the  city  frequent, 
which  was  not  interrupted  even  by  the  Sabbath 
rest,^  and  one  supposes  it  to  have  been  one  of  those 

^  ''Castriim  antiqui  dicebant  oppidum  loco  altissimo 
situm,  cujus  diminutivum  castellutn  est,"  says  Raban  Maur 
^De  Universo,  lib.  XIV,  c.  \),  —  Elsewhere  (/«  Matth.,  lib. 
VI,  c.  21)  he  says:  "Bethania  est  villula  sive  civitas."  — 
Ivuke,  X,  38,  and  John,  XI,  1,  call  Bethany  "castellum." 

2  "That  it  was  covered  with  buildings  and  thickly  pop- 
ulated is  sufficiently  clear  from  traces  of  numerous  founda- 
tions." 

3  By  which  is  understood  the  evening  of  the  Sabbath, 
when  the  official  solemnity  terminated,  because  Bethany  was 
beyond  the  sabbatical  limits.  {Techoum  Aschabbath),  that 
is  to  say,  two  thousand  cubits,  nearly  a  kilometre.  —  The 
summit  of  Olives  was  within  tlie  limits  (Act.  Ap.,  I,  12). 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JKSUS.  267 

country  sojourns  sometimes  found  within  a  walk 
of  the  outskirts  of  great  cities.  It  was  not  fortified, 
as  we  learn  from  the  silence  of  Scripture  and 
Josephus,  but  was  an  unv/alled  town  of  far  greater 
extent  than  at  present,  spreading  its  avenues  and 
gardens  some  distance  into  the  plain,  as  we  nov/ 
see  at  Jaffa.  Though  near  the  Temple  and  the 
Sanhedrin,  the  two  great  centres  of  the  religious 
and  political  life  of  Israel,  Bethany  was  not  suf- 
ficiently influenced  by  them  to  confound  fanaticism 
with  patriotism  or  faith.  At  least,  the  perusal  of 
the  Gospel  gives  us  this  impression,  and  we  feel 
that  Jesus  would  wish  to  rest  peacefully  in  an 
atmosphere  totally  different  from  that  which  He 
found  at  Jerusalem.  Simon,  though  a  Pharisee, 
had  none  of  tlie  haughtiness  of  his  namesake  in 
Galilee.  Nothing  in  his  surroundings  indicated 
a  hostile  feeling  or  manner  ;  quite  the  contrary. 
The  vicinity  of  the  traditional  encampment  of 
Galileans^  in  times  of  great  feasts,  had  perhaps 
given  a  greater  breadth  and  flexibility  to  the  minds 
and  life  of  the  inhabitants  of  Bethany,  which  may 
also  be  accounted  for  by  the  assemblage  of  numer- 
ous pilgrims,  Israelites  and  proselytes,  appertain- 
ing to  the  Dispersion,  from  the  confines  of  Palestine 
to  those  of  the  extreme  East.  Perhaps,  also,  the 
peaceful  tolerance  that  appears  to  have  prevailed 

1-  They  encamped  on  the  summit  of  Olives  and  of  the 
Viri  Galilcsi :  the  two  table  lands  are  separated  by  a  slight 
depression.  According  to  Saint  Ivuke,  XXIV,  50—51,  who 
places  the  Ascension  at  Bethany,  we  may  conclude  that  there 
were  paths  leading  from  the  town  to  the  summit  of  Olives. 


268  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

at  Bctliaiiv  was  due  to  the  influence  exercised  by 
the  powerful  family  of  which  Lazarus  was  the 
worthy  son,  and  which  was  represented  still  better 
by  liis  elder  sister  Martha,  one  of  the  most  attract- 
ive women  of  evangelical  history. 

A  daughter  of  Theophilus  whom  we  have  seen 
in  the  first  rank  of  Syrian  princes,  and  of  Eucharis 
who  loved  to  boast  of  her  descent  from  David,  she 
had  probably  been  born  in  Phoenicia,^  and  must 
have  been  educated  like  the  Greeks,  while  being 
taught  the  practice  of  the  true  religion  by  her 
parents.^  She  possessed,  in  common  with  her 
brother  Lazarus  and  her  sister  Magdalen,  a  remark- 
ably quick  intelligence,  a  natural  eloquence,  a 
charming  grace  of  manner,  rare  beauty,  and  a  per- 
fect knowledge  of  what  was  becoming  to  her 
position.^  To  these  natural  advantages  Martha 
added  qualities  acquired  by  education,  —  modesty, 
prudence,  affability,  love  of  the  poor,  —  with  a 
certain  quiet  dignity  which  caused  her  to  be  loved 
and  respected  by  all.  Left  an  orphan,  it  would  seem 
that  before  choosing  a  husband  she  made  virginal 
chastity  the  law  of  her  life,  which  she  consecrated 
henceforth  to  the  service  of  the  two  children  asso- 

1  Raban  Maur,  c.  I,  makes  Bethauy  her  birth-place, 
which  is  scarcely  consistent  with  what  he  afterwards  says, 
and  also  with  the  name  of  Martha,  which  is  evidently  Syrian. 
(^Martha  is  the  feminine  form  of  Mar,  which  signifies  Lord.) 
Some  ancient  writers  have  very  nearly  confounded  Martha 
with  the  Syro-Phenician  woman  healed  by  our  I,ord  (Luke, 
VIII,  45),  and  to  whom  Saint  Ambrose  gives  the  same  name 
as  our  Saint. 

2  Raban  Maur,    Vit.  S.  Maries  MagdaL,  c.  II. 
s    Id.  ibid.,  c.  II. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  269 

ciated  in  her  sorrow.      Lazarus,  then  very  young, 
must  have  been  a  source  of  consolation  to  Martha, 
but   Magdalen,  scarcely  on  the  threshold  of  life, 
brought  her  bitter  sorrow  while  she  awaited  the 
deferred  joy  of  her  conversion.     When  the  Gospel 
introduces  her  to  us,  she  is  in  the  full  exercise  of 
her  guardianship  over  the  lives  and  property  of  her 
brother  and  sister,  with  their  consent.     Although 
they  had  each  a  separate  dwelling  in  different  parts 
of  Palestine,  they  elected  to  live  together  with  the 
elder  sister  and  to  give  her  charge  of  their  affairs. 
In  this  ofhce,  Raban  Maur  says,  avoiding  all  arro- 
gance and  unkindness,  she  was  able,  nevertheless, 
to  show  a  virile  nature,^  to  the  satisfaction  of  all. 
Thanks  to  her  intelligent  care  of  their  interests, 
they  lived  in  that  abundance,  or,  to  speak  more 
correctly,  in  that  opulence  which  their  illustrious 
orio-in  and  the  influence  that  they  had  a  right  to 
exercise,  demanded.^ 

If  Magdalen,  who  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
Creator's  masterpieces,^  reigned  in  her  family  by 
the  charm  of  her  mind  and  the  beauty  of  her  per- 
son, Martha  ruled  by  the  ascendancy  of  her 
prudence  and  sweetness,  which  she  showed  not 
only  to  her  intimates  and  friends,  as  the  ancient 
chroniclers  say,  but  also  to  her  neighbours,  who 
for  the   greater   part  belonged   to    her   under  the 

i  Rabau  Maur,  Vit.  S.  Maries  Magdal.,  c.  II :  "In  femi- 
neo  pectore  virilem  gerens  animam." 

2  Raban  Maur,  op.  ciL,  c.  II:  ''Deliciis  affluebant." 

3  Id.,  ibid.,  "Ut  singulare  atque  mirificum  opificis  Dei 
diceretur  figmentum." 


270  I'HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

titles  of  tenants,  servants,  workmen,  or  slaves.^  — 
And,  truly,  it  would  have  been  difficult  not  to  bow 
down  before  this  daughter  of  kings  when  she 
appeared  on  the  threshold  of  her  dwelling,  her 
head  crowned  with  the  Syrian  mitre, ^  her  tall 
figure^  showing  to  advantage  the  elegant  simplicity 
of  her  white  linen  garments*;  and  when,  with  her 
delicate  hand,^  adorned  with  costly  rings, *^  she 
drew  aside  her  veil,  displaying  the  clear  brilliancy 
of  her  eyes  and  the  sweet  smile  upon  her  lips.' 

But  the  joys  and  successes  of  this  life  are  never 
secure,  and  Martha  realised  the  fact.  Tlie  de- 
parture of  Magdalen  after  her  marriage  was  the 
first  sorrow  the  elder  sister  had  experienced;  keen, 
no  doubt,  but  far  less  bitter  than  that  caused  by 
the  excesses  into  which  the  penitent  fell  before 
long.      I^azarus  had  the  active  life  which  tradition 

1  Evidently  the  writers  of  the  middle  ages  pictured 
Martha  as  a  chatelaine  of  their  own  time  ;  however,  we  may 
believe  that  she  did  exercise  a  kind  of  sovereignty,  the  char- 
acter of  which  it  is  difficult  to  define.  (V.  in  Proverbs, 
XXXI,  10,  and  following ;  the  portrait  of  a  valiant  woman.) 

2  It  was  her  habitual  head-dress.  (Cf.  Raban  Maur, 
op.  cit.,  c.  XIvI.; 

^  We  can  estimate  it  from  her  arm  and  left  hand,  pre- 
served in  the  church  at  Roujan,  in  the  diocese  of  Montpelier. 

■*  Still  the  costume  of  Arabic  women  :  Martha  wore  it  at 
Tarascon. 

■"'  The  hand  preserved  at  Roujan  is  remarkably  elegant 
in  form,  says  the  author  of  Vie  de  Sainte  Marthe,  K.  de  F., 
p.  61. 

^'  The  Syrian  and  Jewish  women  wore  a  number  of 
bracelets  and  rings.  (Geres,  XXIV,  22; --Num.,  XXXI, 
50;  — Isai.,  Ill,  21,  etc.) 

'     Cant.,  IV,  3  and  11  ;  V,  12  and  13  ;  Prov.,  XV,  ou- 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JE:SUS.  27 1 

assigns  to  him  to  turn  liis  thoughts  from  the  grief 
and  shame  of  such  a  scandal.  Martha  could  but 
shut  herself  up  in  comparative  solitude,  where  the 
consolations  of  Marcella,  —  her  courageous  and 
faithful  domestic/  —  could  but  slightly  mitigate 
her  external  sorrow.  She  had  not,  however, 
broken  off  all  relations  with  her  erring  sister,  in 
the  hope  that  she  would  return  to  her  duty,  rely- 
ing always  more  on  fervent  prayer  than  on  the 
unwelcome  advice  which  she  so  lovingly  tendered. 
Becoming,  we  know  not  how,  the  Saviour's 
disciple,  she  felt  a  secret  assurance  that  she  would 
one  day  bring  back  to  Him  this  wandering  sheep, 
who,  she  believed,  could  not  look  upon  Jesus  with- 
out being  captivated,  as  she.  herself  was,  by  the 
charm  of  His  person  and  His  words.  She  seems  to 
have  even  consented  to  visit  her  sister  from  time 
to  time  at  Magdala,'^  that  her  presence  might 
moderate,  perhaps,  the  impulse  that  possessed  Mary 
to  abandon  herself  to  dissipation  and  error.  It  was 
thus  that  she  persuaded  her,  not  without  some 
trouble,^  to  hear  the  prophet,  and  caused  her  at 
the  same  time,  to  reflect.  Raban  Alaur  tells  us  of 
Magdalen's    emotion    after   she    had    heard   Jesus 

^  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  X:  "Et  domus  suae  (Marthas) 
procuratrix  egregia  Marcella." 

2  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  X. — He  maintains  that  Martha 
received  Jesus  there,  following  what  is  recorded  in  S.  Luke, 
X,  38.  —  Cath.  Kmmerich,  Visions,  c.  XI^IX. 

2  Visions  of  Saint  Veronica  of  Biasco  tit  infra. — Grande 
Bible  des  NoqIs,  p.  248  and  following. — Catherine  E^mmerich, 
Visions,  CXLIX.  We  quote  these  documents  as  evidences  of 
tradition,  but  without  attaclsing  any  great  importance  to  them. 


2  72  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JEvSUS. 

preacli.  "Know  thyself,  O  Mary,"  —  she  said, — 
"and  recall  what  thou  hast  been  in  thinking  what 
thou  shouldst  become.  Blush  for  thy  fall ;  regret 
thy  illusions ;  weep  for  thy  sullied  purity,  the 
scandals  thou  hast  given,  the  scorn  thou  hast 
shown  to  God,  thy  continual  abuse  of  His  best 
gifts.  Think  of  the  shortness  of  life,  the  certainty 
of  death,  the  uncertain  hour  of  thy  end.  .  .  Fear 
eternal  death,  and  foresee  the  justice  of  the  supreme 
accuser  who  shall  be  also  thy  judge!"  —  "Thus", 
continues  the  historian,  borrowing  the  words  of 
Job,  "wisdom  gives  wings  to  the  eagle  to  carry 
him  to  the  place  of  the  rising  sun!"  i 

Then,  joining  the  crowd  of  sick  that  surrounded 
Jesus,  she  begged  of  Him  to  heal  the  sufferings 
caused  by  the  evil  spirit  that  possessed  her,  and 
divine  mercy  gave  her  more  than  she  asked,  for 
the  devil's  flight  allowed  her  to  see  clearly  into 
her  soul.  Returning  to  Magdala,  her  first  act  was 
to  throw  herself,  with  burning  tears,  into  Martha's 
arms.  With  caresses  and  soothing  words  Martha 
calmed  the  poor  child, ^  helping  her  to  cast  aside 
her  ornaments  and  praising  God  for  her  deliver- 
ance.^ Marcella  and  Veronica'^  took  part  in  this 
touching  scene  with  all  the  affection  which  they 
bore  the  sisters,  and  all  the  joy  they  felt  at  having 
worked  for  this  conversion. 

1  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  V,  cit.  Job,  XXXIX,  27. 

2  ^^ Adolescentula^\  says  Raban,  c.  V.  She  was  scarcely 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  according  to  S.  Vincent  Ferrar. 
(Festivale,  p.  186.) 

^  Visions  of  Saint  Veronica  of  Biasco.  (Act.  SS.  ad 
XIII  Jan.) 

*    Act.  SS.,  ib.r  —  D.  Aurelien,  Saint  Veronica,  —  etc. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  273 

The  following  day,  Jesus  being  at  Capliarnaum, 
at  the  house  of  Simon  the  Pharisee, —  a  friend  and 
relative  of  Martha  and  Magdalen, ^  —  the  poor  sin- 
ner gave  public  testimony  of  her  repentance  and 
received  solemn  pardon  for  her  sins ;  after  which 
she  placed  herself  among  the  Redeemer's  fol- 
lowers, with  her  sister  and  their  friends,  under  the 
maternal  direction  of  the  Most  Holy  Virgin.  The 
heart  of  Martha  must  have  expanded  with  over- 
flowing joy  at  seeing  her  sister  thus  conquered  by 
the  divine  Friend.  This  zealous  and  gracious 
preacher,-  who  later  on  was  to  gain  over  entire 
peoples  to  Him,  inaugurated  her  apostolate  by  the 
most  desirable  and  joyous  of  conquests. 

Thenceforth  our  Lord  had  a  new  dwelling  in 
which  He  could  enjoy  the  peace  of  a  loving  hospi- 
tality during  the  course  of  His  apostolic  life. 
Beyond  any  doubt,  the  house  He  chose  was 
]\Iartha's,  the  fortunate  hostess  of  Christ,^  as  tra- 
dition usually  calls  her.  It  is  under  her  roof  that 
Saint  Luke  places  the  scene  recorded  by  him  in 
the  tenth  chapter  of  his  Gospel.  "One  day",  he 
says,  "the  Lord  entered  into  a  certain  locality, 
and  a  woman  named  Martha  received  Him  into  her 
house.  This  woman  had  a  sister,  of  the  name  of 
Alary,  who  sat  at  the  Lord's  feet  to  hear  His 
words.     Martha,  however,  served  Him  with  much 

^  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.y  c.  V:  "Beatae  Marthae  confoede- 
ratus  multa  dilectioue  et  consanguinitate." 

2  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XXIX:  "There  was  a  sweet 
and  persuasive  grace  in  her  words." 

2     "■Hospita  Oiristi.'"  —  Martyrologia,  ad  29  Julii. 


274  '^HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

solicitude.  At  a  given  moment  she  paused  to  say: 
'lyord,  hast  Thou  no  care  for  the  indifference  with 
which  my  sister  leaves  me  alone  to  serve  ?  Speak 
to  her,  therefore,  that  she  help  me!'  "^ 

Nothing  could  be  more  charming  than  this 
little  picture  of  the  home  in  which  we  see  the 
sweet  familiarity  that  prevailed  between  Jesus  and 
His  friends,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  zeal  with 
which  these  acknowledged  the  condescension  of 
His  presence  at  their  hearth.  Their  manner  of 
showing  it  was  quite  different,  but  the  feel- 
ing of  both  was  the  same.  Martha,  the  mistress 
of  the  house,  upon  whom  the  responsibility  of  the 
reception  devolved,  wished  that  everything  should 
conspire  to  repair  the  Master's  strength,  to  give 
Him  rest,  to  alleviate  the  fatigues  of  the  morrow. 
She  thought  principally  of  the  labours,  the  weari- 
ness, the  privations  He  had  just  undergone,  and 
no  effort  appeared  to  her  too  great  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  her  purpose.  On  the  other  hand,  she 
was  aware  that  He  wished  nothing  more  for  Him- 
self than  for  the  disciples  who  accompanied  Him, 
and  who  were  also  friends  of  the  family.'^  Her 
task,  then,  was  a  heavy  one,  and  perhaps  she  was 
justified  in  finding  Magdalen  a  little  too  eager  to 
sit  at  those  feet  which  she  had  already 
watered  with  her  tears,  and  which  recalled  to  her 
such  tender  memories.^  Mary,  on  the  contrary, 
does  not  wish  to  leave  their  divine  guest   even  for 

1  Luke,  X,  38—40. 

2  Raban  Maur,  op.  cU.,  c.  X. 

3  vSaint  Teresa,   "Z<?  Chateau  T?tfh'ieur''  c.  IV. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  275 

a  moment,  and  while  her  sister  is  occnpied  in 
attending  to  His  wants,  she  remains  near  Him, 
attentive  to  His  words,  as  if  to  indulge  the  heart's 
expansion,  which  is  the  first  need  of  a  friend  amid 
friends.  The  two  motives  and  the  two  parts  are 
admirable,  but  which  is  the  better  ?  Jesus  Him- 
self will  tell  us.  —  "Martha'^  He  says,  repeating 
the  name  of  His  hostess  with  evident  affection,^ — 
"Martha,  you  are  pre-occupied  and  troubled  about 
many  things.  But  one  thing  only  is  necessary."  ^ 
He  refuses  nothing  that  Martha  offers  Him, 
and  hence  He  does  not  condemn  her  activity^;  it  is 
sufficient  for  Him  that  He  is  loved,  and  this  He 
realises  in  the  welcome  He  receives.  That  is  all 
that  is  necessary,  and  is  not  a  complete  and  atten- 
tive silence  the  best  means  of  showing  it  ?  His 
heart,  more  than  all,  is  hungry  and  thirsty;  His 
heart,  above  all,  is  weary  and  broken;  His  heart, 
more  especially,  needs  consolation  and  repose.  — 
No  doubt,  in  taking  the  form  of  man  He  has 
condescended  to  require  our  services  and  to  ask 
His  food  of  us  — ■  since  He  had  a  body  that  needed 
nourishment.  But  do  you  not  know  that  angels 
served  Him  in  the  desert?'*  Not  by  giving  Him 
bread  do  you  best  satisfy  His  desires.  Give  Him 
what  the  angels  cannot  offer  Him,  since  they  do 
not  possess  it,  and  you  are  its  sole  master.      Give 

^     "The  repetition  of  the  name  is  a  token  of  affection," 
says  vSaint  Augustine  {Semi.  XXX V,  de  Verbis  Domini). 
2    I,uke,  X,  41—42. 
^    S.  Ambrose,  Comme?it.  in  Luke,  X. 
^     S.  Augustine,  loc.  cit. 


276  the:  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

Him  your  heart,  your  love,  your  silence,  as  Mag- 
dalen has  done.  "Such  is",  —  He  Himself  con- 
cluded, knowing  that  Martha  would  understand 
Him,  —  "such  is  the  better  part,  which  is  secured 
for  ever  to  those  who  have  chosen  it."^ 

Saint  Teresa,  with  her  usual  penetration,  makes 
a  remark  here  to  which  we  should  not  dare  to  call 
the  reader's  attention,  had  it  not  been  supported 
by  such  an  authority.  "Thinking  sometimes,  O 
my  God,  of  Thy  gentle  reproach  to  Saint  Martha, 
it  seems  to  me  that  she  complained  not  only  of  her 
sister,  but  that  her  greatest  displeasure  arose  from 
the  fact  that  she  was  persuaded  that  Thou  didst 
not  sympathise  with  her  in  her  work,  and  that 
Thou  hadst  no  care  that  she  should  be  near  Thee. 
She  imagined  perhaps  that  Thou  didst  not  love  her 
as  much  as  her  sister,  and  this  gave  her  much 
more  trouble  than  the  service  she  tendered  Thee, 
her  love  for  Thee  being  such  that  this  service 
could  not  be  otherwise  than  most  pleasant.  This 
disposition  of  her  mind  is  shown  more  clearly  in 
that,  without  saying  a  single  word  to  her  sister, 
all  her  complaint  was  addressed  to  Thee  ;  and  the 
ardour  of  her  love  gave  her  the  courage  to  say  to 
Thee  that  Thou  hadst  no  care  that  her  sister  should 
help  her  to  serve  Thee.     Thy  reply,  O  Lord,  shows 

^  Ivuke,  X,  42.  —  Cf.  S.  Teresa,  Exclamations,  V.  —  In 
the  Chateau  de  fdme,  c.  IV,  she  adds:  "To  receive  their 
divine  guest  in  a  becoming  manner,  it  was  necessary  that 
Martha  and  Magdalen  should  unite  their  efforts  ;  for  would  it 
be  receiving  Him  well  not  to  give  Him  to  eat  ?  And  who 
would  have  given  Him  to  eat,  if  Martha  remained,  like  Mag- 
dalen, seated  at  His  feet  ?" 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  277 

that  her  complaint  proceeded  from  this  cause, 
since  Thou  didst  declare  to  her  that  love  gives 
value  to  everything,  and  that  this  one  thing  neces- 
sary of  which  Thou  speakest  is  to  have  so  great  a 
love  for  Thee  that  nothing  shall  be  capable  of 
hindering  us  from  loving  Thee."^ 

O  holy  jealousy,  which  lessened  in  no  way  the 
sisterly  tenderness  of  Martha's  heart,  and  shows 
only  her  desire  not  to  be  outdone  by  her  sister  in 
seeking  divine  lyove !  To  understand  this,  one 
should  have  felt  the  ardour  that  consumed  these 
two  souls,  and  enjoyed  the  sweet  intercourse  to 
which  they  were  admitted  equally  by  Jesus-Christ. 
Both  possessed  the  better  part,  each  in  the  degree 
that  suited  her  nature,  —  and  Saint  John  seems  to 
have  wished  to  act  contrary  to  Saint  hnke  when 
he  opposes  to  the  words  that  glorify  Magdalen, 
those  which  put  her  sister  beyond  comparison,  in 
enumerating  the  Master's  friends,  among  whom 
Martha  holds  the  first  place.  "Jesus  loved  Martha, 
her  sister  Mary,  and  Ivazarus."^ 

Whatever  we  may  hold  on  this  point,  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  believe  in  His  preference  for  this 
early  friendship,  for  this  virginal  purity  which  He 
recognises  as  His  own  distinctive  characteristic, 
for  this  unchanging  devotion  ;  above  all,  for  this 
faith  unsurpassed  in  its  intensity  and  spontaneity, 
save  by  that  of  Peter  himself.     In  any  case,  Martha 

^     S.  Teresa,  Exclamations,  V. 

2  John,  XI,  5:  "Diligebat  autem  Jesus  Marthaui,  et  so- 
rorem  ejus  Mariam,  et  lyazarum."  —  Cf.  0\xy,  Vie  des  Saints, 
29  July. 


278  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

had  been  loved  tlie  longest,  and  we  shall  soon  see 
that  at  her  death  she  was  the  object  of  a  tenderness 
beyond  all  comparison.  Bnt  withont  waiting  this 
last  day  the  Master  gave  her  a  singular  proof  of 
His  friendship,  at  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus. 

Summoned  by  the  sisters  of  the  dying  man,  in 
terms  of  unmeasured  confidence  —  "He  whom 
Thou  lovest  is  sick"  —  He  came  slowly,  the  better 
to  show  His  friendship  and  His  power.  For  four 
days  the  dead  man  had  slept  in  his  tomb,  when 
Jesus  mounted  the  rugged  steps  of  Ain  el  Haoudh 
and  appeared  on  the  plateau  that  overhangs  Beth- 
any. His  slowness,  though  surprising  to  Martha, 
could  not  altogether  discourage  her  ;  she  was  sure 
of  His  coming,  and  watched  so  that  she  might  run 
to  meet  Him.  As  soon  as  she  was  apprised  of  His 
arrival,  she  hastened  to  Him,  and  perceiving  Him 
seated  on  a  stone  ^  at  some  distance,  she  cast  herself 
before  Him  saying,  "Lord  if  Thou  hadst  been 
here,  my  brother  had  not  died  !"  It  was  a  gentle 
reproach  to  the  divine  Friend  for  not  having  been 
there,  when  they  had  had  so  much  need  of  His 
presence;  but  as  if  she  feared  to  appear  to  doubt 
Him,  whose  power  and  kindness  she  knew  so  well, 
she  added  quickly:  "However,  now  even,  I  know 
that  whatever  Thou  wilt  ask  of  God,  He  will  give 
it  Thee." 

Martha's  personality  is  pictured  in  these  words, 
—  her  natural  impetuosity,  her  restless  love  and 

1  This  stone,  known  as  the  Stone  of  Conference,  may 
still  be  seen  on  the  rising  ground  a  short  distance  from  Beth- 
any. It  is  a  compound  of  flint  and  limestone,  one  metre  long 
and  fifty  centimetres  broad.     (V.  I^ievin,  Guide,  t.  II.) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  279 

her  absolute  confidence.  We  are  not  surprised  at 
her  complaint,  and  we  cannot  admire  too  much 
the  simplicity  of  the  faith  which  prompts  her  to 
address  so  direct  and  plain  an  appeal  to  the  Son  of 
God.  She  believes  that  all  is  possible  to  Him, 
and  confides  herself  so  entirely  to  Him  that  she 
does  not  even  trouble  to  state  exactly  what  she 
desires.  Jesus  understands  her  well.  —  "Your 
brother  shall  rise  again."  The  certainty  that  she 
feels  of  being  heard  prevents  for  a  moment  her 
understanding  that  her  petition  has  been  at  once 
granted.  "I  know",  she  says,  "that  he  will  rise 
again  at  the  last  day."  Then,  with  a  voice  whose 
accent  was  beyond  the  power  of  human  speech, 
Jesus  gave  her  this  beautiful  lesson,  in  which  we 
discover  a  reproach  for  her  hesitation: — "I  am  the 
resurrection  and  the  life.  He  that  believeth  in 
Me,  although  he  be  dead,  shall  live:  and  everyone 
that  livetli,  and  believeth  in  Me,  shall  not  die  for 
ever.  Belie  vest  thou  this?"  That  is  to  say; 
I  have  not  to  ask,  nor  to  await,  the  power  to  raise 
the  dead,  for  I  am  the  resurrection  as  well  as  the 
life.  Faith  in  Me  triumphs  over  death,  by  the 
resurrection  of  the  flesh,  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  Your  brother  has  believed  in  Me;  he  has 
not  then  to  fear  eternal  death,  and  in  this  transient 
dissolution  he  still  preserves  the  immediate  pledge 
of  his  resurrection.     Believest  thou  this?^ 

1  Cf.  Raban  Maur,  op.  cU.,  c.  XIV.  —  Id.,  Comment,  in 
Matth.,  lib.  Ill,  c.  9:  "Knowing  lier  faith,  He  interrogates 
her,  that  her  profession  may  manifest  her  faith,  and  that 
grace  may  follow  her  profession,  and  that  salvation  may  ac- 
company grace." 


28o  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

'Through  her  tears  Martha  saw  the  smile, 
divined  the  promise,  and  in  a  transport  of  ecstasy 
cried  out:  "O  yes.  Lord,  I  have  believed  that  Thou 
art  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  who  art  come 
into  this  world  !" 

Never  has  faith  elicited  a  more  sublime  and 
triumphant  declaration.  Martha  had  no  need  to 
add  to  it;  Lazarus  was  about  to  rise  from  his  tomb. 
But  it  was  pleasing  to  the  Master  to  point  out  in 
her  the  emotions  of  a  loving  heart  similar  to  our 
own,  so  often  struggling  between  the  feeling  of  a 
painful  reality  and  the  hope  of  a  consolation  that 
God  alone  can  give.  Saint  Bernard  says  that  Mary 
herself  felt  these  emotions  at  the  tomb  of  her  Son. 
Did  she  not  know  that  He  must  die  ?  She  had 
never  doubted  it.  Yet,  nevertheless,  she  wept  over 
the  Crucified.  Yes,  bitterly!  .  .  .  He  who  is  sur- 
prised at  it  forgets  the  severe  reproach  of  Paul  to 
the  Gentiles,  that  they  were  without  affection. 
The  heart  of  Mary  could  not  deserve  that  reproach : 
the  hearts  of  her  children,  likewise,  should  not 
merit  it.^ 

Magdalen  was  constrained  to  repeat  the  words 
of  Martha — "Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my 
brother  had  not  died!"  But  we  may  say  that  if  the 
confidence  of  her  love  dispensed  her  from  adding 
aught  else,  it  was  because  she  knew  of  the  protesta- 
tion made  by  her  sister,  and  knew  also  beforehand 
that  Jesus  had  granted  their  request.  Tears  flowed 
from   the   Master's  eyes   at   the  sight  of  those  in 

^     vS.    Bernard,  .  Senn.    Doni.    in/ra    Oct.    Assumpt.    B. 
Maruc,  cit.  Rom.,  I,  31. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  281 

Magdalen's:  a  smile  brightened  His  countenance 
in  listening  to  the  declaration  of  Martha.  The 
Friend  had  perhaps  given  more  to  the  first:  it  was 
the  second  who  called  into  action  the  omnipotence 
of  God.  ^  Seeing  him  weep,  the  Jews  said  among 
themselves,  "See  how  He  loved  lyazarus,"  but 
they  did  not  seem  to  think  that  He  could  raise  him 
to  life  —  on  the  contrary,  they  added  ironically, 
"How  is  it  that  He  who  opened  the  eyes  of  the 
man  born  blind  could  not  have  prevented  the  death 
of  this  man?"  His  ringing  voice  answered  in 
reply  "Take  away  the  stone." 

At  the  thought  of  the  corpse  that  was  to  be 
revealed,  and  of  the  effect  which  its  appearance 
should  have  upon  her  Friend,  already  so  deeply 
moved,  Martha  forgot  all,  even  her  hopes,  in 
thinking  only  of  Jesus.  "Lord,"  she  murmured 
in  suppressed  tones,  "by  this  time  he  stinketh,  for 
lie  has  been  dead  four  days."  But  the  Man  had 
disappeared:  the  God  shone  in  all  His  splendour, 
and  with  a  voice  whose  authority  was  scarcely 
tempered  by  its  sweetness.  He  said — "Did  I  not 
say  to  thee  that  if  thou  wilt  believe,  thou  shalt  see 
the  glory  of  God?" 

Then  the  multitude  understood;  they  took  away 
the  stone,  and  Jesus  after  having  eloquently  adjured 
His  Father,  issued  His  omnipotent  command  — 
"Lazarus,  come  forth!"  And  he  who  had  been 
dead  appeared,  his  hands  and  feet  bound  with  ban- 
dages, the  shroud  rolled  around  his  face.      "Loose 

1     Ci.Giry,  Vie  des  Saints,  2'^  July. 


282  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

him  and  let  him  go,"  conchided  Jesus,  withdraw- 
ing to  escape  their  gratitude  and  admiration.  ^ 

"I  do  not  knov/,"  says  Pere  lyacordaire,  'Svhat 
others  think;  for  myself,  were  there  no  other  page 
but  this  in  the  Gospel,  I  should  believe  in  the 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  vain  have  I  recalled 
all  that  I  have  read;  I  know  nothing  that  bears  a 
stronger  impress  of  truth.  There  is  not  a  word  in 
it  that  does  not  bring  to  the  heart  of  man  this 
conviction,  that  God  alone  can  act  thus  or  inspire 
sucli  language. — As  an  incident  of  friendship  it  is 
unparalleled  in  any  age  or  in  any  tongue.  This 
narrative  overflows  with  tenderness,  yet  one  cannot 
say  that  it  is  expressed.  It  lies  concealed  in  the 
heart,  and  while  it  is  always  felt,  one  but  hears 
whispered  in  the  soul- — 'And  Jesus  wept.'  "^ 

"Reverent  tears,  of  which  one  cannot  speak 
without  weeping,"  as  Raban  Maur  says,^  you 
have  flowed  at  the  sight  of  Magdalen's  grief,  but 
you  gathered  in  the  eyes  of  Jesus  from  the  moment 
when  Martha  allowed  hers  to  fall  when  she  ex- 
claimed :  "Lord,  if  Thou  liadst  been  here,  my 
brother  had  not  died!"  It  v/as  at  the  voice  of  Mag- 
dalen that  Jesus  ordered  the  stone  of  the  sepulchre 
to  be  removed,  but  He  had  already,  as  He  Himself 
reminds  us,  promised  to  the  faith  of  Martha  that 
she  should  see  the  glory  of  God. 

After  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  Martha  does 
not  appear  more  than  once  in  the  Gospel  narrative; 

^    John,  XI,  1-45. 

^     Lacordaire,  Sainte  Marie- Madeleine,  c^  II. 

3     op.  cit.  c.  XV. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  283 

on  the  night  of  the  repast  in  the  house  of  Simon 
the  Leper,  five  days  before  the  betrayal  of  Judas.  ^ 
The  Apostles  had  been  invited,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem  had  also  come  to  see  Lazarus,  who 
sat  at  table  with  them.  In  Simon's  house  Martha 
continued  the  usual  ministrations  which  constitute 
her  glory,  in  giving  her  as  a  model  to  all  those 
who  would  honour  Jesus  in  His  suffering  and 
humble  children.  Without  any  jealousy  on  this 
occasion  she  surrenders  the  prominent  place  to  her 
sister,  who  on  this  day  anoints  the  Master's  head 
for  His  death  and  burial,  according  to  His  own 
words.  Doubtless  she  was  hurt  by  the  murmurs 
of  the  disciples,  and  must  have  resisted  with  diffi- 
culty her  desire  to  silence  Judas  ;  but  she  was  well 
avenged  by  the  eulogium  that  Jesus  deigned  to 
pronounce  on  Magdalen, 2 and  by  the  consciousness 
that  she  shared  the  immortality  promised  to  her 
sister.  Wherever  the  Gospel  shall  be  preached,  it 
shall  be  in  memory  of  the  double  service  rendered 
on  that  day  to  the  Son  of  God  about  to  die.  The 
last  tokens  of  affections  that  He  received  in  His 
mortal  life  were  given  to  Him  by  these  two  noble 
women,  who  consoled  His  heart  by  their  humble 
and  chaste  affection. 

Tradition  has  taken  upon  itself  to  supplement 
the  silence  of  the  Gospel,  in  showing  us  Martha 
by  the  side  of  Mary  during  the  ascent  of  Calvary 
and  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.     It  would  have  been 

1  Matth.  XXVI,  6  and  followiug.  —  John  XII,  2  and 
following. 

2  John  XII,  2. 


284  1'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

rather  surprising  had  she  not  been  among  the  fore- 
most in  these  sad  scenes;  she,  to  whom  Jesus  had 
so  often  given  the  first  place  in  His  hours  of  joy. 
The  belief  of  the  early  Christians  regarding  her  is 
also  unanimous  on  this  point,  as  on  that  of  the 
presence  of  Martha  at  the  sepulchre  with  the  other 
holy  women,  on  the  morning  of  the  Resurrection. 
The  distinctness  and  constancy  of  these  traditions 
have  so  impressed  Baronius,  that  he  has  not  hesi- 
tated to  give  them  a  place  in  his  Annals.  ^  The 
silence  of  the  Gospel,  Saint  Anselm  says,  cannot 
be  pleaded  as  an  objection,  for  the  sacred  book 
contains  nothing  that  is  useless,  and  what  could  be 
more  superfluous  than  to  point  out  the  fidelity  of 
Martha  or  the  tenderness  of  Jesus  in  circumstances 
where  they  must  perforce  shine  with  the  greatest 
brilliancy  and  clearness  ? 

Ancient  writers  tell  us  that  Magdalen  and 
Martha  had  brought  from  Palestine  two  cherished 
souvenirs  of  the  Passion;  Magdalen,  a  little  earth 
red  with  the  Precious  Blood  gathered  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross,  —  Martha,  a  history  of  the  Master's 

1  Baronius,  Annals  of  the  year  34,  110.  182:  "Therefore 
all  these  as  they  had  been  together  on  Calvary  during  the 
Passion  of  our  Lord,  has'ened  to  the  sepulchre,  inspired  by 
the  same  office  of  piet3^" —  He  gives  proof  of  it,  —  "ex  niajo- 
rum  traditione," — the  follow^ing  anthem  borrowed  from  the 
Ordo  Romanns:  "Mary  and  Martha,  when  they  w-ere  come 
to  the  sepulchre,  angels  clad  in  light  appeared  to  them  and 
said  :  whom  seek  ye  ?  —  the  living  among  the  dead  ?"  —  Cf. 
Severian.  episcop.  Gabalor.  {De  creatione  mundi,  p.  I.,  271 
Biblioth.  patr.  graec  :)  "Martha  and  IMary  see  Him,  recognise 
Him,  and  bend  the  knee  before  Him."  —  Cath.  Emmer.  (Dou- 
loureuse  Passion,  c.  XXIX,  etc.)  echoes  these  traditions,  by 
which  the  artists  of  the  middle  ages  were  also  inspired. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  285 

sufferings,  written  in  Hebrew.  Neither  one  nor 
the  other  would  wish  that  the  drama  of  Golgotha, 
in  which  they  had  taken  so  prominent  a  part, 
should  cease  to  be  ever-present  to  their  thoughts. 
After  the  Ascension  Magdalen  seemed  to  desire 
to  exclude  all  other  memories  from  her  mind,  and 
retired,  it  is  said,  into  the  sepulchre  where  Lazarus 
had  been  laid,  to  live  there  alone,  having  com- 
munication only  with  her  sister,  who  provided  for 
her  wants.  Martha,  on  the  contrary,  multiplied 
her  works  of  zeal  in  the  service  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,^  by  care  of  the  poor  and  organizing  the 
churches  at  Bethany,  where  the  Apostles  had  con- 
secrated the  houses  sanctified  by  the  Saviour's 
presence.  Thus  passed  the  twelve  years  following 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth  ;  a  period 
full  of  wonders  and  consolations,  but  also  of  sor- 
rows and  perils,  which  are  recorded  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.  After  the  example  of  Barnabas,  soon 
followed  by  the  greater  number  of  the  disciples, 
Martha  placed  her  fortune  at  the  disposal  of  Peter, ^ 
and  became,  quite  naturally,  a  help  to  the  deacons 
in  the  distribution  of  alms^  under  the  direction  of 
Stephen.  Parmenas  had  received  from  the  prince 
of  the  Apostles  the  special  mission  of  directing 
Martha  in  practices  of  charity,  or  rather  she  herself 
had  asked  his  assistance,  which  v/as  faithfully 
given  to  the  last  day  of  her  life.  ^     The   death   of 

^     Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.  c.  XXXIV  and  XXXV. 

2  Act.  Apost.  IV,  34-37.— Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.  c.  XXXIV. 

3  Act.  Apost.,  VI,  1-6. 

«    Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XXXVI  and  XIvVIII. 


286  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Stephen  and  the  persecution  of  which  it  was  the 
signal,  brought  about  a  momentary  separation 
between  Lazarus  and  his  sisters.  They  lived  at 
Jerusalem,  if  we  may  believe  Raban  Maur,  ^  while 
he  sought  refugee  in  Galilee  whence  he  was  soon  to 
depart  for  the  island  of  Cyprus.  Their  re-union 
came  about  as  Ave  have  seen,  at  Joppa  in  the  year 
42,  the  date  of  the  definite  dispersion  of  the  first 
disciples  of  Jesus. 

At  Marseilles,  Martha  was  the  first  and  most  ar- 
dent apostle  of  the  Gospel.  Tradition  has  retained 
the  memory  of  her  preaching,  in  which  her  natural 
eloquence  found  free  scope  and  produced  the  most 
admirable  results.  Combining  a  love  of  solitude 
and  prayer  with  zeal  for  souls,  she  portioned  her 
time  between  the  town,  where  she  proclaimed 
Jesus-Christ,  and  the  country,  where  she  gathered 
around  her  those  souls  desirous  of  contemplation 
and  renunciation  of  the  world.  Her  name  is  still 
linked  to  one  of  the  neighbouring  localities  of  Mar- 
seilles which  she  seems  to  have  particularly  loved, 
doubtless  because  of  the  charm  of  the  landscape, 
the  gentle  manners  of  the  people,  and  the  peace 
which  the  smallness  of  their  numbers  allowed  her.^ 
Magdalen  at  first  lived  here  with  her  sister  ;  then 
aspiring  to  a  more  complete  separation,    she   put 

1  Rabau  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XXXIV,  cit.  Act.  Apost.  VIII,  1. 

2  Sainte-Marthe,  a  little  to  the  north  of  Marseilles,  the 
first  station  on  the  railway  from  Aix.  The  Chemin  de  Sainte- 
Marthe  puts  the  Belle  de  Mai  and  Saint-Barthelemy  in  com- 
munication with  each  other.  To  the  west  runs  the  rivulet  of 
the  Aygalades,  on  the  banks  of  which  Martha  and  Magdalen 
lived :  it  falls  into  the  basin  of  the  Arenc. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  287 

between  herself  and  the  world  the  almost  insur- 
mountable barrier  of  the  forest  and  rocks  of  Sainte- 
Baume.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  Martha 
left  the  sea  coast,  to  ascend  by  the  course  of  the 
Rhone,  and  carry  the  light  of  the  faith  to  the 
great  city  of  Avignon. 

It  was  a  magnificent  conquest  to  undertake. 
Founded  by  the  Phoenicians  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rhone  nearly  six  hundred  years  before  Christ,^ 
Avignon  had  long  been  the  capital  of  the  Cavares, 
then  had  become  one  of  the  most  important  mili- 
tary and  commercial  stations  of  Narbonnaise  Gaul. 
All  the  activity  and  all  the  luxury  of  the  great 
cities  of  the  Roman  empire  had  there  full  sv/ay, 
scarcely  yielding  in  importance  to  Marseilles  and 
Narbonne.  Proudly  seated  at  the  base  of  the  rock 
of  the  Doms,  it  seemed  already  to  anticipate  that 
it  should  one  day  rob  its  neighbour,  Aries,  of  the 
title  of  The  Borne  of  the  Gauls,  -  It  had  retained, 
hov/ever,  a  little  more  than  its  rivals,  the  Celtic 
features  whose  mixture  with  Greek  and  Roman 
elements  conferred  a  distinctive  characteristic  that 
is  still  recognised  at  the  j^resent  day.  The  Roman 
roads  of  the  south  joined  here  the  principal  route 
which,  ascending  the  valley  of  the  Rhone,  placed 
the  ports  of  the  Mediterranean  in  communication 
with  the  central  regions,  across  the  countries  of  the 
Arverni  and  Allobroges,  where  the  ancient  spirit 
of  the  Gauls  still  survived.  Avignon  was,  then, 
one  of  those  frontier  posts  where  one  encountered 

^     lu  the  year  539. 

2     "Arelas  Roniula  Galliarum.- 


288  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

civilization  and  barbarism,  the  present  and  the 
futnre,  with  all  the  facilities  that  conld  be  given  to 
preaching  by  the  habit  of  thonght  or  the  cnriosity 
of  intellectnal   initiative. 

A  divine  inspiration  nrged  Martha  towards 
these  people  seated  in  the  shadow  of  death.  She 
set  out  in  company  with  Parmenas,  Germanus, 
Marcelhis,  Evodius,  and  Synthex.  I^eaving  the 
Tarascon  coast,  whither  she  proposed  to  return,  she 
went  directly  to  the  great  city,  the  true  scene  of 
her  apostolic  ministry.  ^  Her  burning  words  soon 
moved  all  hearts.  The  people  followed  her  foot- 
steps, enchanted  and  subjugated,  but  withal  frivol- 
ous to  excess,  and  disappearing  suddenly  when 
they  seemed  within  grasp:  here  were  found  indeed 
the  sons  of  sceptic  and  degenerate  Greece,  or  the 
enthusiastic  and  mercurial  Gaul.  Her  words  inebri- 
ated them  as  a  strong  and  scented  wine,  but  the 
intoxication  once  over,  there  remained  only  dejec- 
tion and  ennui.  Happily,  Martha  had  at  her  dis- 
posal the  power  of  God,  and  a  miracle  achieved 
what  her  words  had  but  begun.  - 

One  day  on  the  strand,  the  multitude  was  gath- 
ered around  the  virgin,  absorbed  in  listening  to 
the  sweet  tones  of  her  voice,  when  a  low  cry  broke 
the  silence.  A  young  man  v/as  seen  trying  to 
swim  from  the  opposite  shore,  hoping  to  reach  the 
bank  to  which  he  was  attracted  by  the  same  im- 
pulse that  had  brought  all  these  people  together ; 
but    his   strength   deceived   him,    the   river  swept 

1  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XXXVIII. 

2  Id.,  op.  cit.  c.  XXXIX. 


the:  friendships  of  jksus.  289 

liiiii  along,  and  he  soon  disappeared  beneath  the 
rushing  waters.  The  following  day,  at  the  ninth 
hour,  that  is  at  noon,  the  body  was  recovered  in 
the  fishermen's  nets  and  carried  to  the  oratory  of 
the  Saint  with  passionate  supplications.  The  rich 
joined  their  prayers  with  those  of  the  people  to 
obtain  the  resurrection  of  the  poor  man.  Then 
Martha  said  :  *'If  you  see  this  young  man  restored 
to  life  in  the  name  of  the  lyord  Jesus-Christ,  will 
you  believe  what  I  preach  to  you?"  —  "Yes," 
replied  the  crowd  with  enthusiasm,  "we  will  be- 
lieve that  your  Lord  is  truly  the  Son  of  God,  God 
Himself,  and  that  you  are  his  chosen  apostle  !"  — 
"Then,  young  man,"  commanded  the  wonder- 
worker, "in  the  name  of  Our  Lord  Jesus-Christ, 
arise  and  give  testimony  of  the  great  things  that 
His  mercy  has  accomplished  in  your  favour!" 
And  the  young  man,  standing  erect,  began  to  con- 
fess Jesus-Christ  and  asked  to  be  baptised,  amid 
the  acclamations  of  the  people,  who  testified  their 
faith  in  the  God  of  the  strange  woman,  now  be- 
come their  mother  in  the  supernatural  life.  ^ 

Conversions  multiplied,  and  Parmenas  was  not 
able  to  baptise  all  the  new  Christians,  whose  eager- 
ness also  troubled  Martha's  peace.  She  sought  to 
escape,  at  least  from  time  to  time,  from  this  min- 
istry in  which  she  sometimes  found  again  the 
anxieties  and  cares  '^  of  Bethany.  The  deserts  that 
separated    Avignon     from    Tarascon    afforded    the 

1  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XIJI;  —  Bolland.,  Acta.  SS., 
29  July. 

2  Ivuke,  X,  41:    "Martha,  sollicita  es  et  turbaris." 


-290  Tim  FRIKNDSIIIPS  OV  JKSUS. 

refuge  she  desired,  Init  not  for  long;  her  zeal  could 
not  resist  the  call  of  souls  nor  their  persistent 
search  for  her.  Thus  she  evangelized  all  this  land 
even  to  Beaucaire  and  Aries,  where  she  helped 
Bishop  Trophimus,  as  she  was  soon  to  help 
Bishop  Maximin  in  the  conquest  of  Tarascon. 

She  had  found  near  this  latter  town  a  retreat 
in  a  cavern  hidden  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhone,  in 
the  thickest  part  of  the  woods  that  there  bordered 
the  river,  and  that  swarmed  with  reptiles  and  deer. 
Two  paces  from  it,  a  little  lower  down  but  on  the 
same  shore,  a  projection  of  the  steep  rocky  bank 
served  as  the  den  of  a  monster  that  spread  terror 
and  death  all  around  it.  As  always  happens  in 
such  cases,  the  popular  imagination  exaggerated 
its  height,  its  strength,  and  its  ferocity.  ^  "It  was 
of  incredible  proportions,"  says  Raban  Maur,  '^and 
of  gigantic  stature.  The  pestilential  exhalations 
from  its  mouth,  the  lightning  flashes  of  its  eyes, 
the  gnashing  of  its  teeth,  and  the  bellowings  of  its 
throat  filled  all  who  saw  it  with  consternation. 
Woe  to  him  who  fell  under  its  teeth  and  between 
its  claws !  Even  by  approaching  it  one  might  die 
from  its  fetid  breath.  The  numbers  of  animals 
and  men  that  it  had  either  devoured  or  strangled 
could  scarcely  be  counted.^' ^     James  of  Voragine 

J  vSometimes  it  is  said  that  it  had  wings  We  take  no 
notice  of  this,  because  the  various  seals  of  Tarascon  and  the 
most  ancient  monuments  do  not  attribute  them  to  the  Proveu- 
9al  monster.  The  "draco"  of  Raban  Maur  and  of  James  of 
Voragine  does  not  necessarily  imply  wings:  it  designates 
rather  a  reptile. 

2     Raban  Maur,  op   cit.  c.  XIv. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  29I 

enlarges  still  further  upon  the  horrible  deformity 
of  the  animal,  "half  fish,  half  dragon,  larger  than 
a  whale,  longer  than  a  horse,  with  teeth  like 
pointed  swords,  covered  with  thick  scales,  devour- 
ing flocks  and  overturning  the  boats  that  ventured 
upon  the  river."  ^ 

The  middle  ages  have  left  us  a  picture  of  this 
ferocious  beast,  restored  to  a  more  credible  form, 
although  even  this  falls  far  short  of  the  reality,  — 
and  has  given  to  it  the  name  of  griffin,^  —  a  semi- 
fabulous  beast,  even  to  the  mind  of  the  author  who 
describes  it,  and  who  appears  to  have  never  seen 
its  scientific  type.  It  is  evidently  the  crocodile, 
such  as  is  depicted  on  the  Roman  medals  of  the 
Nemausien  colony,  with  its  invulnerable  armour, 
its  jaws  furnished  with  sharp-edged  teeth,  its 
almost  human  feet,  its  tail  capable  of  upsetting  a 
]}oat  or  breaking  the  limbs  of  a  man.  If  one  calls 
to  mind  the  fetid  odour,  the  hoarse  bello wings,  the 
keen  and  blood-thirsty  looks  of  the  formidable 
saurian,  crocodile,  gavial,  alligator, — it  is  not 
diiiicult  to  recognise  the  Tarascon  beast  crouching 
among  the  reeds,  bounding  upon  all  that  ventures 
Y/ithin  reach  of  its  lair,  and  swallowing  up  in  its 
immense  jaws  either  a  shepherd  or  a  sheep. ^ 

Whence  came  it?  James  of  Voragine,  who 
calls  it  a  marine  reptile,  the  offspring  of  Leviathan,* 

^    Jacob.  Vorag.,  Legenda  aurea  (De  S.  Martha). 

2  Le  bestiare  d'amour,  with  wood  engravings  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

•"     "Oves  perimebat."  —  "Pecora  et  pastores." 

•*  "Venerat  per  mare  .  .  .  generatum  a  lyeviathau."  {De 
S.  Martha.) 


292  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

would  designate  it  as  some  Ichthyosaurus  descended 
from  primeval  ages,  caught  in  the  waters  of  the 
Rhone,  if  the  giant  of  the  Jurassic  period  was 
amphibious  and  not  exclusively  aquatic.  The 
nails  ^  with  which  Raban  Maur  furnishes  it,  and 
the  rapidity  of  movement  attributed  to  it  by  local 
tradition,  would  seem  to  convey  the  idea  of  the 
Teleosaurus,  a  monster  of  the  same  epoch,  that 
resembled  anatomically  the  present  gavial  of  India 
frequenting  stagnant  pools  and  even  the  sea,  — 
with  a  height  that  reached  ten  metres,  a  head  of 
three  or  four  metres  cleft  by  a  mouth  of  two,  — 
lank,  agile,  armed  with  a  cuirass  on  all  sides, ^  — 
capable  of  devouring  not  only  a  man  but  an  ox.^ 
Without  always  adhering  to  these  inadmissible 
sources  of  origin,  may  we  not  believe  it  to  have 
been  some  representative  of  an  extant  species,  the 
survival  of  a  former  race  habituated  to  the  Rhone 
and  by  degrees  exterminated  by  man.  It  is  ob- 
jected that  the  crocodile  was  a  familiar  object  along 
the  banks  of  the  Rhone  and  that  the  inhabitants 
could  not  be  completely  mistaken  as  to  its  form, 
nor  startled  beyond  measure  by  its  ferocity,  against 
which  they  were  always  ]3repared  to  defend  them- 
selves. But  the  monster  might  have  reappeared 
after  a  sufficiently  long  interval  to  allow  its  nature 
and  form  to  be  forgotten,  and  the  habit  of  precaution 

1  "Ungulis  et  dente  dilanians."     {^Op.  cit.,  c.  XL.) 

2  "Binis  parniis  ex  utraque  parte  tnuuitus." 

2  La  terre  avatit  le  deluge,  p.  178.  —  One  may  still 
encounter  the  Tarasque  of  the  Belodon  Kapffii,  a  gigantic 
Saurian  proceeding  from  the  archegosaurus,  the  prototype  of 
the  lizard,  according  to  some  authorities. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  293 

to  be  lost.  The  various  dissensions  that  had  un- 
settled this  country  from  the  Rhone  to  the  Var, 
may  also  have  depopulated,  for  the  time  being, 
the  river  banks,  and  may  have  allowed  the  beast, 
forced  to  take  refuge  in  the  swamps  of  the 
Camargue,  to  reappear,  after  a  long  time,  and  the 
men  driven  from  their  dwellings  by  the  Teuton 
hordes,  the  armies  of  Caesar,  or  the  partisans  of 
the  last  triumvirs,  to  return.  And,  in  fact,  the 
boatmen  and  fishermen  who  navigated  open  boats 
or  wherries  in  those  j^laces,  were  nothing  more 
than  the  shepherds  of  the  Crau  or  the  labourers  of 
Trebon,  bound  to  rid  themselves  of  such  an  enemy. 
It  is  also  easily  conceivable  that  there  was  wide- 
spread terror  and  universal  discouragement  from 
Avignon  to  Aries,  when  Martha  came  to  settle  at 
Tarascon. 

One  day,  when  she  was  preaching,  the  audience 
asked  her,  in  proof  of  the  power  of  her  Master,  to 
deliver  them  from  the  monster.  "If  you  are 
disposed  to  believe,"  she  replied,  '^all  is  possible 
to  faith."  \  All  promised  immediately  to  believe 
in  Jesus-Christ,  and  Martha,  with  a  little  bronze 
cross  in  her  hand,-  approached  the  ferocious  beast, 
and  suddenly  tamed  his  fury  by  showing  him  the 
sign  of  redemption.  Then  she  made  a  collar  of 
her  own  girdle,  v/ith  which  she  led  him  to  the 

1  Mark,  IX,  22:  "Omnia  possibilia  sunt  credenti." 

2  This  cross  of  "copper"  was  preserved  in  the  treasury 
of  the  church  of  Tarascon  until  the  Revolution  :  it  bad  a 
double  cross-bar,  like  the  so-called  cross  of  the  Holy- 
Sepulchre  or  of  Saint-James. 


294  '•'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

shore  in  sight  of  the  multitude,  who  were  at  first 
afraid  of  his  presence,  then  became  reassured  by 
the  reproof  of  the  Saint.  "How  is  it,"  she  said 
to  them,  "that  you  fear?  You  see  that  I  hold  the 
reptile  prisoner:  ^  approach  with  courage,  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  your  Saviour,  and  kill  the 
monster."  She  had  some  trouble  in  convincing 
them,  and  according  to  Raban  Maur,  she  fully 
justified  her  name  as  Martha,  — the  instigator,^  — 
in  inducing  them  to  kill  the  odious  beast,  which 
perhaps,  like  the  people  on  the  shores  of  the  Nile, 
they  imagined  to  be  a  divinity  whose  ulterior 
vengeance  they  feared.  But  while  striking  it  with 
trembling  hands,  they  admired  the  unshaken 
courage  of  the  virgin  who  held  it  with  so  fragile  a 
bond,  without  appearing  in  the  least  concerned  at 
the  convulsions  of  its  agony.  Then,  as  is  always 
the  case,  a  delirium  of  joy  succeeded  the  delirium 
of  fear:  Martha  became  to  them  a  divinity,  Diana 
the  huntress  or  Minerva  the  wise  and  strong,^  —  to 
whom  they  should  offer  sacrifice.  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas had  not  more  trouble  at  Lystra^  in  bringing 
their  audience  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the 
situation.  Calm  ensued  at  last,  and  the  w^hole 
province  was  soon  in  subjection  to  Christ,   led  by 

^  "Ecce  serpentem  teneo."  {Rabaii  Maicr,  op.  cit.y 
c.  XIv.)  —  The  Tarasque  is  also  styled  a  serpent  in  the  ancient 
prose  writings  of  Saint  Martha.  Mistral  (Mireio,  c.  XI)  calls 
it  also  a  snake. 

2     "Ad  feriendum  constauter />ri7i7<7ra«5," 

•^  Mistral  (Mireio,  c.  XI)  recalls  this  local  tradition  in 
charming  verse. 

4     Act.  Apost.,  XIV,  7-17. 


THE  FRIKNDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  295 

the   example   of  the   j^eople   of    Tarascon,    full   of 
veneration  and  love  for  their  deliverer.^ 

Through  all  ages,  and  in  spite  of  all  agitations, 
this  gratitude  has  continued  to  manifest  itself 
under  whatever  form  best  coincides  with  the  poetic 
imagination  of  the  Provengals.  Every  year,  on 
Saint  Martha's  feast,  crowds  gather  in  the  streets 
of  Tarascon  to  see  the  procession  of  La  Tarasque. 
A  monster  of  wicker-work  and  pasteboard,  into 
whose  mouth  a  child  disappears,  and  a  blow  of 
whose  tail  is  something  to  be  feared,  —  traverses 
the  streets  of  the  city,  carried  by  active  and  vigor- 
ous young  men  who  cause  his  rapid  and  irregular 
movements.  The  beast  seems  sometimes  to  hurl 
himself  upon  the  spectators,  as  if  threatening  to 
devour  them,  amidst  the  piercing  plaudits  of  the 
women  and  the  chivalrous  acclamations  of  the 
men.  A  young  girl,  clothed  in  a  robe  of  blue 
satin  and  veiled  in  crimson  gauze,  leads  the 
Tarasque  with  a  silken  girdle,  and  tames  his  anger 
now  and  again  by  sprinkling  him  with  holy 
water. 2  An  armed  band  closes  the  procession,  in 
order  to  represent  the  multitude  that  kills  and  dis- 
members the  vanquished  monster. 

The  reader  will  perhaps  be  surprised  that  we 
have  given  to  the  Tarasque  the  character  of  a  real 

1  Raban  wrongly  maiutains  that  Tarascon  derives  it 
name  from  the  Tarasque ;  Strabo  et  Ptolomy  long  before  this 
period  designated  it  so.  The  place  rather,  gave  its  name  to 
the  beast. 

2  Tradition  would  have  us  believe  that  Martha  treated 
the  Tarasque  in  the  same  manner.  This  is  why  she  is 
represented  holding  an  asperges-pot  and  brush  in  her  hands. 


296  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

and  definite  monster,  in  place  of  regarding  it  only 
as  a  symbol  of  paganism  or  of  the  demon  over- 
thrown by 'the  Gospel.  The  allegorical  inter- 
pretations in  which  people  now  seem  to  delight  so 
as  not  to  offend  certain  others,  seem  to  us  little 
worthy  of  acceptance,  from  whatever  point  of  view 
we  may  regard  them,  and  especially  from  the 
standpoint  of  historical  science.  Monsters  were 
not  uncommon  at  the  time  of  the  first  preachings 
of  the  Gospel  in  France,  Ireland,  or  Germany, 
whose  woods  and  marshes  were  ad*"iirably  adapted 
for  their  haunts.  Even  in  our  own  tim.e  tlie 
forests  and  swamps  of  South  America  or  Central 
Africa  afford  examples  that  coincide  with  those 
which  we  find  in  Western  legends.  One  may  say 
the  same  of  the  Indian  jungles  and  the  deserted 
tracts  of  the  United  States,  where  serpents  and 
gigantic  saurians  abound.  More  familiar  with  the 
thought  and  sight  of  them,  we  no  longer  fear  them 
so  much,  and  moreover,  we  regard  the  contests 
against  them  in  which  men  now  engage,  as  some- 
thing heroic,  at  least  under  certain  conditions;  and 
in  such  an  event  we  believe  we  owe  to  our 
deliverer  a  country's  gratitude,  such  as  the  Hindoo 
renders  to  the  lucky  slayer  of  a  man-eater. 

The  Apostles  of  the  Gospel,  fulfilling  the 
Master's  promise,^  tamed  ferocious  beasts  as  a; 
guarantee  of  their  mission.  That  they  often  did 
so,  one  can  only  conclude  that  occasion  often  arose 
for  their  so  doing;  in  this  there  is  nothing  surpris- 

1     Mark,  XVI,  18  ;  —  Luke,  X,  19. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  297 

ing  for  any  reader  who   is   familiar  with  the  foun- 
dations of  national  history. 

It  is  said  of  such  monsters  as  the  Tarasque 
that:  "Their  description  does  not  represent  any 
known  animal."  ^  We  must  understand  one 
another.  Such  a  description  as  popular  imagina- 
tion has  produced  is  evidently  inapplicable  to  any 
definite  species;  but  with  a  little  reflection  and  the 
help  of  monuments  relating  to  the  subject,  it  is 
rectified  and  adapts  itself  sufficiently,  as  we  have 
seen.  This  is  why  we  discard  the  allegorical 
explanation  and  adhere  to  historic  reality,  though 
always  upholding  that  the  victory  of  Martha  over 
the  Tarasque  is  a  faithful  symbol  of  that  which 
she  obtained  over  the  cruel  and  rampant  j^aganism 
in  Narbonnaise  Gaul.^ 

After  the  service  she  had  rendered  these  people, 
she  could  no  longer  think  of  leaving  them;  besides, 
they  kept  too  close  a  watch  over  her  to  make  it 
possible.  So  she  fixed  her  dv/elling  on  the  borders 
of  the  Rhone,  in  a  humble  little  house  that  replaced 
the  rustic  hut  which  had  hitherto  sheltered  her. 
For  seven  years  she  lived  there  alone,  but  often 
visited  by  the  poor,  whom  she  took  under  her  care 
with  the  same  zeal  with  which  she  had  formerly 
tended  the  King  of  the  poor.  In  her  penury  she 
found  means  of  proving  herself  as  liberal  as  if  she 
still  possessed  the  well-stocked   cellars  of   former 

1  Sainte  Marthe,  by  E.  de  F.,  p.  134. 

2  Raban  Maur  speaks  always  of  the  Viennoise  (c.  XL, 
etc.);  but  in  the  time  of  Saint  Martha  this  part  of  Gaul  was 
still  called  Narbonnaise.     The  other  name  is  of  later  date. 


298  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

days,  her  divine  Friend  taking  pleasure  in  multi- 
plying lier  resources  according  to  the  measure  of 
her  charity.  ^  The  rich  also  came  to  her  door  to 
solicit  the  consolation  which  she  gave  them  with 
the  same  good  will  and  generosity,  in  raising  their 
souls  towards  the  sovereign  dispenser  of  all  good, 
whose  humble  representative  she  was. 

For  herself,  her  life  was  the  most  mortified,  or 
rather  the  most  superhuman  that  one  can  conceive. 
Clothed  in  rough  material  under  which  she  hid  a 
hair-  cloth,  with  bare  feet,  she  preserved  from  her 
ancient  costume  only  the  white  head-dress  wdiich 
was  to  her  a  souvenir  of  her  country.  Her  bed  was 
composed  of  branches  and  vine-leaves,  with  a  stone 
for  her  pillow  and  a  sort  of  mat  for  covering.  She 
eat  only  fruit  and  vegetables  and  drank  only  water; 
still  she  found  it  sufficient  to  take  this  poor  refec- 
tion but  once  a  day.  "Her  life  was  a  veritable 
martyrdom,"  Raban  Maur  justly  says,  but  it  was 
sw^eetened  by  continual  ecstasy  in  which  she  lived 
again  the  old  days  at  Bethany,  and  seemed  already 
to  enter  into  possession  of  eternal  beatitude. 

Meanwhile,  the  years  passed  away.  Martha's 
solitude  was  peopled  with  numbers  of  pious  women 
and  young  girls ^  desirous  of  sharing  her  austerities 

1  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.  c.  XL. 

2  The  religious  hospitallers  of  the  Holy-Ghost  trace  back 
their  origin  to  this  gathering  of  pious  women  and  virgins 
around  Saint  Martha.  Tradition  favours  the  idea  ;  but  posi- 
tive documents  are  wanting.  The  R.oman  Breviary,  however, 
mentions  this  community  on  the  29th  of  July,  and  it  coincides 
with  a  vision  of  Saint  Veronica  of  Binasco.  (V.  Bolland., 
Acta  SS  ad  13  Jan.) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  299 

and  pra\'er3,  all  under  the  patronage  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  ^  and  the  direction  of  Parmenas,  who  re- 
mained faithful  to  the  holy  client  whom  Peter 
had  confided  to  his  care.  One  day,  God  inspired 
Maximin,  Bishop  of  Aix,  Trophimius,  Bishop  of 
Aries,  and  Eutropus,  Bishop  of  Orange,  to  come  to 
Tarascon  to  visit  the  companion  of  their  exile  and 
apostolate.  It  was  winter,  and  on  the  sixteenth 
day  of  the  calends  of  January,  that  is  the  seven- 
teenth of  December,  they  gave  to  the  community 
on  the  banks  of  the  Rhone  the  church  that  they 
needed,  by  dedicating  the  house  of  the  foundress 
solemnly  under  the  name  then  ordinarily  used,  of 
Saint-Saviour.  After  the  ceremony,  Martha  gave 
her  guests  and  all  who  accompanied  them,  a  modest 
repast,  where  the  miracle  of  Cana  was  renewed,  in 
memory  of  which  the  Bishops  ordered  at  the  recur- 
rence of  each  Nev\r  Year,  a  commemoration  of  the 
consecration  and  the  miracle  that  had  followed  it.^ 
When  leaving,  Maximin  tmdertook  to  convey  a 
request  to  Magdalen,  which  indeed  she  was  to 
grant,  but  not  until  after  her  death  :  Martha  asked 
her  sister  to  also  come  and  visit  her,  and  the  holy 
penitent  bound  herself  to  do  so,  v/ithout  foreseeing 
then  in  what  manner  she  should  fulfil  her  promise.^ 

^  Jacob  of  Vorag.  de  Saftcta  Martha.  —  This  is  a  local 
tradition  which  seems  to  us  worthy  of  respect.  The  same 
devotion  is  attributed  to  S.  Trophimius  of  Aries,  who  would 
have  built  an  oratory  to  Mary  in  the  Alyscamps. 

2  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.  c.  XIvIII.  —  The  feast  was  cele- 
brated until  1187  at  Tarascon  :  it  did  not  cease  to  be  com- 
memorated at  Bethany  till  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  this 
church  by  the  Mussulmans, 

3  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.  c.  XLIV. 


300  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Before  seeing  Magdalen  again,  Martha  was  to  make 
some  pleasant  acquaintances.  A  persecution  in 
Aquitaine  exiled,  for  a  time,  from  their  sees,  Fron- 
tus.  Bishop  of  Perigueux,  and  George,  Bishop  of 
Velay,  who  took  refuge  at  Tarascon.  They  were 
received  with  great  cordiality,  and  retained  with 
earnest  entreaty  as  long  as  possible.  At  their  de- 
parture, Martha  said  to  the  Bishop  of  Perigueux : 
*'You  know  that  I  shall  die  next  year,  and  I  beg 
your  Ivordship  to  come  to  my  funeral." — "If  I  see 
my  daughter,  that  it  is  the  will  of  God,  I  promise 
to  assist  at  it,"  replied  the  Bishop  simply. 

Forthwith,  the  glorious  virgin  called  all  her 
friends  together,  and  announced  to  them  her 
approaching  departure  for  heaven  :  then  she  laid 
herself  upon  her  poor  bed,  attacked  by  a  fever  that 
should  never  be  subdued,  and  whose  consuming 
fires,  while  they  burned,  purified  her  like  gold  in 
the  furnace.  ^  In  proportion  as  the  year  advanced, 
the  stronger  grew  her  desire  to  quit  this  earth, 
especially  after  she  had  seen  the  soul  of  Magdalen 
pass  through  the  air  on  its  way  to  glory. — "O  most 
beautiful,  most  happy,  and  most  beloved  sister,"  ^ 
she  had  exclaimed,  "what  have  you  done?  Why 
did  you  not  visit  me  before  your  death,  as  you 
promised?  You  will  enter,  then,  without  me,  into 
the  joy  of  the  lyord  Jesus,  who  had  loved  us  so 
much  in  return  for  our  love  for  Him  !   I   hope  to 

1  Sap.  Ill,  6:   "Ut  aurem  in  fornaco  probatur," 

2  "O  pulcherrima,  felix  et  mea  dilecta  soror,  iiou  atten- 
disti  quod  inihi  vovisti  ut  me  visitares."  (Brev.  Eduens., 
1650).  —  Cf.  Rabau  Maur,  c.  XI^VI ;  —  Vincent  De  Beauvais, 
speculum  historiale,  etc. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  3^1 

rejoin  you  soon  :   while  awaiting  me  live  the  life 
of  the  blessed,  and  do  not  forget  me." 

Joy  overflowed  her  heart,  free  from  all  jealousy: 
she  hoped  soon  to  share  the  lot  of  her  beloved 
sister,  and  said  so  to  those  around  her  in  words  of 
consolation  for  the  trouble  that  had  overwhelmed 
them.  From  that  moment  they  v/atched  over  her 
more  assiduously,  and  with  greater  solicitude, 
because  they  felt  that  the  hour  of  separation  was 
at  hand.      Seven  days  later  it  came. 

It  was  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  Martha  had 
caused  three  lamps  and  seven  wax  tapers  to  be  lit, 
which  shed  a  brilliant  light  around  her.  Suddenly, 
a  strong  wind  extinguished  them,  and  the  saint, 
fearing  an  attack  from  the  spirit  of  darkness,  asked 
those  who  watched  to  relight  the  lamps.  But 
before  they  could  comply,  a  heavenly  radiance 
illuminated  the  house,  and  Magdalen,  her  counte- 
nance shining  like  a  star,  sat  by  the  pillow  of  the 
dying  woman,  whom  she  greeted  affectionately.  — 
"I  come,"  she  said,  "to  fulfil  my  promise,  and  to 
visit  you  before  you  leave  this  life  of  time.  And  I 
do  not  come  alone;  for  here  is  your  Beloved,  the 
I^ord  your  Saviour,  who  is  there,  and  v/ho  calls 
you,i  as  He  called  me  at  the  hour  of  my  death!" 
The  Master,  in  fact,  was  standing  beside  her  bed  : 
"It  is  I,"  He  said  with  a  radiant  smile,  —  "it  is  I, 
whom  thou  hast  served  with  so  much  zeal  during 
My  mortal  life,  and  in  My  poor,  after  My  ascension 
into  Heaven.  It  is  I,  to  whom  thou  hast  said  :  'I 
believe  that  Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  who  art 

1    John  XI,  28:  "Magister  adest  et  vocat  te." 


302  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

come  into  this  world!'  Come  then,  leave  this  exile, 
and  receive  thy  crown."  Then  making  an  effort 
to  rise  and  follow  Him,  she  heard  these  words: 
"Wait  yet  a  little  while;  I  go  to  prepare  thy  place. 
Then  I  will  come  to  take  thee,  so  that  thou  shalt 
be  where  I  Myself  am."  Then  He  disappeared 
with  Magdalen,  but  the  brilliant  light  lasted  until 
the  dawn. 

At  sunrise,  the  saint  requested  them  to  carry 
her  to  a  neighbouring  field,  so  that  the  assembled 
faithful  might  be  enabled  to  approach  her  and 
hear  her  last  instructions.  They  spread  straw  and 
branches  under  a  large  tree,  covering  this  bed  with 
a  mat,  on  which  they  formed  a  cross  of  ashes  ; 
then  they  laid  the  virgin  on  it,  smiling  and  ever 
gracious  towards  those  around  her.  With  faltering 
speech,  she  begged  the  help  of  their  prayers  to  aid 
her  in  obtaining  a  speedy  departure.  Then,  raising 
her  eyes  to  Heaven,  she  began  to  supplicate  the 
lyord  Himself,  in  the  name  of  the  hospitality  she 
had  shown  Him,  and  the  promises  He  had  made 
her  on  the  preceding  night.  The  angel  of  death 
delayed  however,  in  coming,  and  to  mitigate  the 
pain  of  waiting,  ^  Martha  begged  Parmenas,  to  read 
to  her  the  Hebrew  narrative  of  the  Passion  that  she 
had  brought  from   Palestine.  ^     As  the  mournful 

1  **Ut  vel  sic  suae  expectationis  taedium  temperaret." 
(Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XLIII). 

2  Some  suppose  this  manuscript  to  be  the  Gospel  of 
vSaint  Luke,  becavise  of  the  fact  that  Martha  died  at  the 
moment  when  Parmenas  read  the  words :  *'Et  damans  voce 
magna,  Jesus  ait,  etc.,"  which  are  in  ch.XXIiI  of  this  Gospel. 
However,  Saint  L,uke  did  not  write  in  Hebrew,  and  his  v*'ork 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  303 

scenes  of  the  Saviour's  agony  one  after  another 
came  to  lier  mind,  lier  tears  flowed  faster,  and  little 
by  little  her  soul  struggled  to  depart.  When  the 
reader  came  to  the  verse:  "And  Jesus,  crying  with 
a  loud  voice  said:  "Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  com- 
mend My  spirit,"  the  bosom  of  the  dying  woman 
heaved  a  deep  sigh,  her  eyes  closed  genth^,  and 
her  heart  was  still  for  ever.  It  was  on  a  Friday, 
the  fourth  of  the  calends  of  August,  that  is,  the 
twenty-ninth  of  July,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, and  the  happy  friend  of  Jesus  had  attained 
her  sixty-fifth  year. 

Full  of  sorrow,  the  companions  of  Martha  em- 
balmed her  body,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  Jev/s,  and 
laid  it  in  her  house,  under  the  watchful  care  of  Par- 
menas  and  Germain,  her  fellow- workers, — of  Sos- 
thenes  and  Kpaphias,  who  were  attached  to  the  per- 
son of  Trophimius,  Bishop  of  Aries, — of  Marcella, 
her  faithful  servant, — Evodius  and  Synthex,  her  for- 
mer disciples.  For  three  days,  hymns  and  prayers 
continued  unceasingly  around  her  bier.  At  night, 
torch-lights  shone  in  the  church,  lamps  ilhiminated 
all  the  houses,  and  the  country  was  encircled  by 
numerous  fires,  around  v/hich  were  grouped  the 
faithful  of  the  surrounding  neighbourhood.  It 
seemed  as  though  they  v/ere  afraid  of  being  sur- 
prised by  some  celestial  visit,  as  had  happened 
recently.  But  it  was  during  the  day,  in  the  broad 
sunlight,  that  the  predilection  of  the  divine  Master 
for  His  hostess  of  Bethany  v/as  manifested. 

is  usually  regarded  as  of  later  date  than  the  death  of  Martha 
and  Magdalen. 


304  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Oil  Sunday,  at  the  hour  of  Tierce,  the  Bishop 
of  Perigueux  was  seated  on  his  throne  in  the 
church,  awaiting  the  moment  to  begin  the  holy 
Sacrifice,  when  he  felt  himself  overpowered  by  a 
mysterious  sleep.  Scarcely  had  he  closed  his  eyes, 
when  Christ  appeared  to  him. — "Come,  My  son," 
He  said. — "fulfil  the  promise  that  you  have  made, 
to  assist  at  the  funeral  of  Martha,  My  servant." 
And  all  at  once,  in  the  midst  of  those  assembled 
in  the  church  at  Tarascon,  there  appeared  two 
venerable  figures.  The  first,  whom  many  had  seen 
in  the  preceediiig  year,  took  his  place  at  the  foot 
of  the  coffin;  the  other,  with  greater  majesty,  stood 
at  its  head.  His  eyes  fixed  upon  the  pale  face  of 
the  dead,  whom  they  both  raised  with  tender 
respect,  to  place  it  in  the  tomb.  Those  present, 
Parmenas,  Marcella,  and  the  companions  of  their 
exile  recognized  Him,  and  prostrating  themselves, 
adored  Him,  their  hearts  full  of  joy,  and  their  eyes 
filled  with  precious  tears  —  it  was  the  Lord  ! 

One  of  the  assistants,  astonished  at  these  silent 
marks  of  respect,  approached  the  divine  visitor  and 
asked  Him  who  He  was,  and  whence  He  came  ? 
In  response,  Jesus  merely  offered  him  a  tablet  He 
held  in  His  hand  ;  then  He  disappeared.  On  both 
sides  of  the  tablet  he  read  the  words  of  the  prophet: 
"She  shall  be  in  everlasting  remembrance,  and 
shall  not  be  afraid  of  evil  tidings."^ 

At  Perigueux,  Bishop  Frontus  continued  to 
sleep  on  his  throne,   in   sight  of    the   astonished 

1  Ps.  CXI,  7:  "111  memoria  aeterna  erit  (Martha,  liospita 
Christi),  ab  auditione  mala  iion  timebit." — The  words  in  the 
parenthesis  are  supplied  by  Raban  Maur,  c.  XlylX. 


THU  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  305 

people.  The  archdeacon,  after  waiting  a  sufficient 
time,  took  upon  himself  to  awake  him  and  tell 
him  that  the  hour  for  the  holy  Sacrifice  was  past, 
and  that  the  assistants  were  fatigued.  "Do  not  be 
troubled,''  said  the  prelate,  "and  do  not  regret  the 
delay:  I  have  been  transported,  — with  or  without 
my  body  God  only  knows,  —  to  Tarascon,  to  bury, 
with  the  I^ord's  consent,  Martha,  His  hostess,  to 
whom  I  had  promised  to  render  this  honour.  Send 
and  get  back  my  ring  and  my  gloves,  which  I  left 
in  the  hands  of  a  clerk  while  I  laid  the  body  in 
the  tomb." 

We  may  imagine  the  general  amazement  pro- 
duced by  the  Bishop's  words;  but  the  astonishment 
was  no  less  great  when  the  archdeacon's  messenger 
returned,  bearing  the  forgotten  ring  but  only  one 
of  the  gloves,  for  the  Tarascons  wished  to  keep 
the  other  in  piooi  of  the  miracle.  ^  They  sent  at 
the  same  time,  letters  which  attested  to  the  people 
of  Perigueux  the  presence  among  them  of  their 
Bishop,  "whomthey  knew  well,"  and  "of  another, 
worthy  of  all  veneration."  ^  They  recorded  also 
in  the  letters  the  incident  of  the  tablet  and  of  the 
inscriptions  thereon,  so  that  the  pontiff  might  be 

'  This  glove,  preserved  in  a  gilt  reliquary  till  the  time 
of  the  revolution,  might  still  be  seen  in  1839  in  the  house  of 
the  cure  of  Sainte-Marthe.  At  his  death,  his  heirs  mislaid  it 
without  being  able  to  discover  any  trace  of  it.  The  use  of  the 
ring  was  general  among  the  Romans  and  Gauls  at  this  period: 
that  gloves  w^ere  used  at  the  same  period  is  not  surprising, 
although  positive  documents  are  wanting  on  this  subject. 

2  Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.  c.  XI.IX:  "Et  venerabilem  cum 
eorum  potifice,  quem  bene  noveraut,  exequiis  ejus  (Marthae) 
interfuisse  personam." 


3o6  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

informed,  if  by  accident  lie  had  not  learnt  it  when 
with  them. 

No  one  will  deny  that  these  are  strange  facts, 
and  one  can  understand  how  they  have  given  rise 
to  many  doubts.  But  besides  not  exceeding  the 
pov/er  of  God,  and  admirably  befitting  the  Master's 
affection  for  one  of  His  faithful  servants,  they  are 
confirmed  by  circumstances  which  no  longer  allow 
us  to  reject  them.  Two  peoples,  —  not  only  two 
individuals,  worthy  of  credence  as  they  might  be, 
— two  peoples  saw,  under  the  most  favourable  con- 
ditions, what  the  chroniclers  have  recorded,  whose 
testimonies  go  back  far  enough  to  connect  them 
with  those  of  contemporary  eye-witnesses.  ^  The 
tradition  regarding  these  wonders  has  come  down 
to  us  without  alteration,  as  the  ancient  liturgies  of 
Aries,  Marseilles,  Perigueux,  Lyons,  Orleans,  and 
Tours  prove,  which  have  their  complement  in 
more  recently  accredited  liturgies,  that  of  the  Order 
of  Saint  Dominic,  for  example,^  where  the  smallest 
details  of  the  original  nan'ative  were  found,  before 
the  attacks  of  Launoy  against  the  apostolic  foun- 
dations of  the  Gauls.  As  a  consequence  of  these 
attacks,  unjustifiable  interpolations  discredited  the 
character  of  our  liturgical  books  ;  but  modern  re- 
search tends  more  and  more  to  re-establish  the  text 
of  these  hallowed  hymns   and  traditional   lessons. 

1  It  is  now  admitted  that  Raban  Maur,  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, examined  documents  of  the  sixth  or  the  eighth,  which 
were  themselves  inspired  by  writings  attributed,  with  proba- 
bility, to  contemporaries  of  Saint  Martha,  altered  perhaps  by 
arrangements  and  translations,  but  worthy  of  serious  attention. 

2  Breviar.  Ord.  Praed.,  ad  29  July,  lect.  III.  —  Cf.  E.  de 
F.,  Hist,  de  Sainte  3Iarthe,  etc. 


the:  friendships  of  je:sus.  307 

We  have  110  longer,  thank  God,  the  horror  of  the 
supernatural  and  the  marvellous  that  distinguished 
the  biographers  of  the  last  century,  and  we  no 
longer  reproach  Jesus  Christ  for  His  preference  for 
our  country.  We  have  no  hesitation,  then,  in  giv- 
ing the  narrative  of  this  funeral,  that  our  ancestors 
believed  to  have  been  celebrated  by  her  friend  on 
earth,  Frontus,  Bishop  of  Perigueux,  and  her 
Friend  in  Heaven,  the  Son  of  God  made  man, 
Martha's  guest  at  Bethany,  —  and  which  the  Ro- 
man bas-relief  and  gothic  sarcophagus  that  may  be 
seen  in  the  basilica  at  Tarascon,  represent.  ^ 

When  the  last  honours  had  been  rendered  to 
their  holy  friend,  the  companions  of  her  exile 
separated.  Epaphras  and  Marcella  returned  to 
Palestine  and  continued  to  preach  there  ;  Synthex 
went  to  die  a  holy  death  at  Philippia,  and  Raban 
Maur  believes  that  Saint  Paul  names  him  with 
Evodius,  in  his  epistle  to  the  people  of  that  town. 2 
It  seems  that  Germain  accompanied  him  and  joined 
Clement,  another  fellow-worker  with  the  Apostle:  ^ 
Parmenas  ended  his  life  there  by  a  glorions  mar- 
tyrdom.     Marcella,   alone,  was  destined  to  return 

1  The  bas-relief  is  seen  on  the  left  side  of  the  portico  of 
the  basilica:  the  sarcophagus  is  preserved  in  the  subterranean 
church.  In  the  first  of  these  monuments  we  recognise  Our 
Lord  by  the  cruciform  nimbus;  in  the  second  by  the  book  which 
He  holds  in  His  hand  (the  tablet  or  codex  of  Raban  Maur). 

2  Philipp,,  IV,  2  :  "Bvodiam  rogo  et  Syntichem  deprecor 
idipsum  sapere  in  Domino." 

3  \^.,ibid.,2>\'.  *'Cum  Clemente  et  caeteris  adjutoribus 
meis." 


308  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

to  Provence,  where  her  tomb  is  still   an  object  of 
public  veneration.  ^ 

However,  Martha  did  not  remain  in  solitude : 
the  people  continued  to  gather  round  her  tomb, 
and  kings  mingled  with  beggars,  x^ontiffs  with  the 
humblest  faithful,  —  all  equally  transported  with 
love  and  gratitude  for  the  benefits  conferred  upon 
them  by  the  saintly  hostess  of  the  Lord.  Through 
many  vicissitudes,  which  have  so  often  changed 
,the  face  of  the  earth  and  the  minds  of  men,  this 
devotion  continued,  victorious  even  over  the  bar- 
barities that  tried  to  stifle  it,  from  the  persecutions 
of  the  early  centuries  down  to  those  of  the  eigh- 
teenth. In  her  tomb,  which  has  been  several 
times  renewed  by  the  piety  of  our  fathers,  she,  to 
v/hom  Jesus-Christ  said  one  day  :  SoUicita  es  et 
turharis,  is  no  longer  troubled.  In  memory  of 
this  celebrated  sentence  the  artist  has  engraved 
these  words:  SoUicita  non  tiirhatuT',  '^  earthly  anx- 
iety is  lost  in  the  silence  of  the  tomb.  Peaceful  in 
eternal  glory,  Martha  sees  the  blessing  of  God  con- 
tinually bestowed  upon  her  adopted  people,  upon  the 
land  of  France  protected  by  her  hallowed  remains. 
Her  veneration  is  restored  Vv^ith  honour;  the  learned 
who  repudiated  the  rem^embrance  of  her  apostolate 
employ  their  old  days  in  seeking  traces  of  it,  and 
the  story  of  her  miracles  reanimates  faith  in  Jesus 

1  A  Life  of  Saint  Martha  is  attributed  to  her,  interpolat- 
ed by  a  forger  of  the  supposititious  name  of  Synthex. 

2  "She  who  was  formerly  so  solicitous  shall  be  no 
longer  troubled." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  309 

Christ,  in  whose  name  she  sowed  so  laboriously  on 
earth  the  seeds  that  fructify  afresh  under  our  eyes.^ 

For  us  who  have  tried  to  revive  her  characteris- 
tics in  the  memory  of  our  contemporaries,  may  we 
lay  at  her  feet  a  homage  that  will  please  her, 
and  merit  for  us  her  favour,  echoing  the  wish  so 
well  expressed  in  the  old  liturgical  hymn  : 

"Hail,  O  glorious  Martha,  light  of  Heaven, 
flower  of  the  world,  hostess  of  the  Saviour!  Thou 
whom  we  take  for  our  lady  and  sovereign,  obtain 
for  us  the  pardon  of  our  sins,  and  secure  the  grace 
of  God  for  those  who  venerate  thy  memory.  When 
we  are  in  the  agonies  of  death,  deign  to  pray  for 
us,  sinners;  and,  our  life  here  ended,  conduct  us 
without  delay  to  eternal  glory."  2 

1  E.  de  F.,  Hist,  de  Sahite  Marthe,  p.  232. 

2  Ave,  Martha  gloriosa 
Coeli  jubar,  mundi  rosa 
Salvatoris  hospita ! 

Ora  pro  nobis,  Doniina 
Per  te  nostra  peccamina 

Deleantur.  . 
Impetra,  Martha,  gratiam 
His  qui  tuam  memoriani 

Venerantur. 
In  augusta  mortis  hora, 
Nobis,  si  placet,  implora 

Peccatorum  veniam ; 
Cursuque  vitae  completo, 
Ducas  nos  tramite  recto 
Ad  supernam  gloriam. 

(Missal.  Massil.  et  Arelat  1530). 


Chapter  III. 
Mary  Magdalen. 

"Jesus  saith  to  her:  Mary.  Slie, 
turning,  saitli  to  Him :  Rabboni 
(that  is  to    sa}^,  Master)." 

Among  those  friendships  that  we  love  to  verify 
in  the  Master's  life,  did  that  which  He  condescend- 
ed to  bestow  on  Magdalen  hold  in  reality  the  first 
place,  or  was  it  only  second  to  that  which  He  showed 
His  Apostles,  particnlarly  Peter  and  the  sons  of 
Zebedee  ?  An  answer  to  this  question  is  by  no 
means  easy,  or  rather,  it  is  impossible,  because 
these  affections  are  absolutely  different  in  their 
nature,  and  their  intrinsic  dignity  does  not  permit 
us  to  define  their  relative  intensity.  But  in  what- 
ever measure  we  may  extend  the  one  and  the  other, 
we  are  compelled  to  recognise,  —  without  fear  of 
contradiction,  —  that  Magdalen  occupied  a  place 
in  the  heart  of  Jesus,  which  astonishes  while  it 
delights  us. 

So  much  mercy  and  tenderness  confounds  us, 
yet  we  feel  that  it  should  be  so,  since  the  divine 
Word  became  Man  to  draw  sinners  to  Himself, 
subjugating  them  by  the  charm  of  His  grace,  and 
uniting  them  more  closely  to  His  heart,  as  the 
witness  i^ar  excellence  of  His  victory  over  sin.  By 
incarnating,  so  to  speak,  weakness  and  disorder, 
Magdalen  was  predestined  to  show,  in  her  con- 
version, all  the  ingenuity  of  love  in  quest  of  souls, 

(310) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  31I 

and  after  her  return  to  God,  all  the  happiness 
of  the  union  re-established  between  the  prodigal 
son  and  the  Father  to  whom  he  is  restored. 

The  Master  was  kind  to  all  sinners,  and  several 
of  those  whom  He  converted  became  His  compan- 
ions, such  as  Matthew,  Zacheus,  and  Cedonius,^  to 
mention  only  those  best  known.      But  for  these,  if 
we  are   to  judge  by   the   Gospel,    He   showed   no 
special  tenderness;  their  part  was  that  of  the  other 
disciples,  without  any  of  the  affection  that  gave 
such  prominence  to  Simon  and  the  sons  of  Salome. 
Why  then  did  Magdalen  enjoy  a  privilege  denied 
to  others,  who  appear  to  have  merited  as  much  as 
she  ?  It  was  because  an  abyss  separated  Magdalen 
from  the  other  converts  of  the  Saviour.     Her  fall 
had   been    more    deplorable,    her  dishonour   more 
profound,  her  conversion  more  marvellous.     The 
more  she  had  been  influenced  by  evil,  the   more 
happy   should  be  the   results  of   her  repentance  ; 
and  this  soul  seems,  as  it  were,  a  prey  over  which 
heaven  and  hell  disputed  with  equal  ardour.     Her 
conquest    cost   more,   consequently  brought  more 
glory  and  caused  more  joy  to  Him  who  had  won 
her  :  and  since  things  are  valued  in  our  eyes  by 
the  price  which  has  been  paid  for  them,  —  above 
all  if  the  price  is  that  of  our  tears  and  our  blood, 
—  what  soul  could  be  of  greater  value  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Master  ? 

The  publicans  called   to  follow  Jesus  had  not 
given  the  scandals  with  which  Magdalen  had  bur- 

1     According  to  tradition,  the  man  born  blind.     (John, 
IX,  1-41. 


312  TIIIC  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

deiied  her  conscience  :  they  never  became  corrup- 
ters, though  they  had  trampled  under  foot  the  most 
sacred  laws,  —  and  if  their  name  was  too  well 
known  in  tlie  city,  there  was  attached  to  it  no  in- 
famy comparable  to  that  with  which  Magdalen  had 
covered  hers.  But  on  the  other  hand,  if  we  must 
say  all,  even  in  her  perversity  she  had  an  excuse 
that  the  disciples  cannot  allege  :  the  weakness  of 
an  orphan  too  soon  deprived  of  her  mother,  —  of  a 
virgin  too  soon  thrown  into  contact  with  the  world, 
—  of  a  wife  badly  mated  and  thus  driven  to  licen- 
tiousness, "^  —  of  a  woman  abandoned  to  all  seduc- 
tions, so  that  in  the  end  slie  was  forced  to  revolt 
and  resistance,  by  a  despair  that  was  the  inevitable 
result  of  her  errors. 

All  ruin  is  sad  to  contemplate,  especially  in  the 
moral  order;  but  how  much  more  the  ruin  of  what 
is  most  perfect,  that  is  to  say,  of  a  being  endowed 
with  gifts  that  charm  the'  eye  and  delight  the 
mind, — beauty,  candour,  intelligence, — with  the 
inexpressible  fascination  of  youth  in  its  first  exuber- 
ance! What  pity  arises  in  a  generous  heart  at  the 
sight  of  these  flowers,  destined  only,  it  would 
seem,  to  bloom  upon  the  altar,  but  trampled  beneath 
the  feet  of  indifferent  and  scornful  passers!    A  pity 

1  Stengeil  (S.  Mariae  Magdalenae  Vitae  Historia,  c.  I) 
believes  that  she  did  not  fall  into  sin  until  after  the  death  of 
her  husband :  he  does  not  agree  with  the  Talmudical  tradi- 
tion but  rather  inclines  towards  a  supposititious  commentary 
of  Saint  Jerome  on  Saint  Mark  XV,  40.  —  Some  authors  con- 
ciliate all  opinions  by  affirming  that  Magdalen,  having 
sinned  before  the  death  of  her  husband,  was  no  less  culpable 
after  her  widowhood. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  313 

still  more  profound  is  excited  at  the  thought  of 
what  the  evil  spirit  effects,  iu  dragging  souls  down 
to  the  abyss  whither  he  himself  has  fallen  from 
Heaven.  Alas!  he  has  lost  nothing  of  the  power 
he  once  possessed  to  dazzle,  the  eye  and  corrupt 
the  heart :  how  many  have  been  consumed  in  the 
perfidious  rays  that  dart  from  his  brow  despoiled  of 
honour,  but  not  of  proud  and  enchanting  beauty ! 
Milton  has  aptly  portrayed  Lucifer  for  us  in  the 
alluring  seduction  of  his  fall,  ^  and  Pere  Lacordaire 
had  good  reason  to  forewarn  youth  against  what  he 
dared  to  call  "the  ineffable  beauty  of  sin."  ^  How 
easy  it  is  to  understand  the  emotions  of  a  great 
heart  over  such  a  ruin !  An  emotion  of  pity,  of 
devotedness,  of  sacrifice,  whose  motive  is  to  save 
this  soul,  that  is,  "to  give  it,  were  it  even  at  the 
price  of  itself,  truth  in  faith,  virtue  in  grace,  peace 
in  redemption,  God,  in  short,  —  God  known,  God 
loved,  God  served."^  And  then,  "when  one  has 
been  to  a  poor  fallen  creature,  the  instrument  of 
light  that  reveals  her  degradation  and  that  raises 
her  up,  this  sublime  release  from  a  death  that  must 
have  been  eternal,  inspires  sometimes  in  the  two 
souls  an  indefinable  attraction  born  of  happiness 
given  and  of  happiness  received.  And  if  natura.1 
sympathy  is  added  to  this  emotion  which  comes 
from  on  high,  there  arises  from  all  these  divine 
gifts  bestowed  upon  the  same  hearts,  an  attachment 
which  would  have  no  name  upon  earth,  if  Jesus- 

^     Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  Book  I. 

2     Lacordaire,  Conference  aux  JSfovices  de Saint-Maximin, 

^     Ivacordaire,  Sainte  Madeleine,  c.  I. 


314  'I'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Christ  Himself  had  not  said  to  His  disciples:  "I 
have  called  you  My  friends."  .  .  .  "It  is  friendship, 
such  as  the  Man-God  who  died  for  His  friends 
could  conceive  it."  ...  ^  Yes,  it  is  friendship, 
but  with  the  hue  of  preference  that  is  supposed  in 
the  ransom  of  a  most  precious  and  needy  soul, 
which  when  completely  won  —  to  again  quote 
Lacordaire  —  is  in  this  world  "the  summit  of 
human  and  divine  affection.  Nothing  had  prepared 
the  world  for  it,  and  the  world  shall  never  see  but 
its  obscure  image  in  the  most  holy  and  most  heav- 
enly friendships." 

The  place  where  this  superhuman  affection 
began  is  the  sweetest  and  most  pleasing  on  earth, 
the  western  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Genezareth,  where 
Eastern  imagination  still  loves  to  locate  the 
Garden  of  Eden.  At  the  point  where  the  lake  is 
widest,  and  at  an  almost  equal  distance  from  its 
two  extremities,  a  miserable  village  preserves  by  its 
name  Midjdel^  the  remembrance  of  the  voluptuous 
Magdala,  cursed  by  the  Talmud,  ^  and  which  the 
Gospel  might  have  given  over,  with  Bethsaida  and 
Corozain,  to  the  lot  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha.  ^ 
Though  less  important  than  Tiberias  and  Caphar- 
naum,  Magdala  was  more  charming.  Situated  at 
the  entrance  of  the  Ouady-el-Hammam,  ^  under  the 
shadow  of  Mount  Arbela,  ^  its  feet  in  the  lake,  fac- 

^     Lacordaire,  loc.  cit. 

2  Echah  Rabbathi,  fol.  71,  4,  and  Taaniit  Hieros  fol.  69, 
1 :   "Quare  desolata  est  Magdala  ?  Propter  scortationem." 

3  Matth.,  XI,  21 ;  —  Luke,  X,  12,  and  following. 
^     "The  valley  of  the  doves." 

^    Now  called  Irbid. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OB^  JESUS.  315 

ing  the  rising  suii,  it  seemed  a  suitable  setting  for 
the  foolish  life  led  by  this  Magdalen  v/ho  owes  her 
name  to  it,  and  to  whom  it,  in  turn,  owes  its  place 
in  history. 

According  to  tradition,  Mary,  the  3'ounger  sister 
of  Martha,  was  born  at  Magdala,  half  town  and 
half  fortified  castle,  1  whence  she  had  taken  the 
name  by  which  she  is  known  in  the  Gospel  narra- 
tive. She  was  several  years  younger  than  her  sis- 
ter, and  notwithstanding  certain  similarities,  her 
character  was  very  different:  in  proportion  as  the 
elder  sister  appears  to  us  grave,  almost  austere  in 
her  person  and  life,  in  the  same  measure  the 
younger  gives  us  the  idea  of  a  nature  altogether 
superficial,  impulsive  and  passionate,  prone  to  ex- 
travagance, and  regardless  of  opinion  and  conven- 
tionalities where  obstacles  apposed  the  gratification 
of  her  wliims.  Educated  somew^hat  after  the  Greek 
fashion,  as  we  may  conclude  from  the  documents 
which  contain  the  history  of  her  early  days,  ^  she 
must  have  been  but  an  ill-suited  wife  to  the  petty 
and  jealous  Scribe  which  the  Talmud  represents 
her  husband,  under  the  name  of  Paphus  or  Pappus- 
ben-Juda.  ^  By  a  singular  contradiction,  the  rigid 
Pharisee  voluntarily  admitted  to  his  house  one  of 

1  Migdol  or  Magdala  was  one  of  the  towers  guarding  the 
plain  of  Genezareth. 

2  See  further  back  the  chapters  relating  to  Saint  Lazarus 
and  Saint  Martha.  The  opinion  that  Simon  the  Leper  was 
her  father  does  not  merit  discussion,  however  worthy  of 
respect  its  advocates  may  be. 

3  Lightfoot,  Hor.  Hebraic,  in  3Iatth.^^Vll:  —  Hor. 
Evang.,  in  Luke.  VIII. 


3l6  TPIK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

his  friends  or  relatives,  who  had  assisted  at  his 
wedding,  and  v/ho  before  long  abused  his  confi- 
dence. This  Panther  had  taken  service  and  held 
rank  in  tlie  army  of  Herod-Antipas,  where  he 
led. the  half-pagan  life  tliat  Josephus  ^  has  pictured 
for  us.  Did  lie  suggest  the  same  idea  to  the  young 
woman,  or  did  it  come  spontaneously  to  herself? 
In  any  case,  her  residence  at  Magdala  was  too  close 
to  Tiberias  to  allow  her  to  escape  tlie  temptation 
of  frequenting  the  sceptical  and  refined  society 
which  the  tetrarch  brought  together  there,  and 
v/hose  follies  shocked  the  rabbis  and  zealots  of 
Galilee.  Pappus  could  not  indulge  similar  desires: 
Magdalen  obtained  her  freedom  by  a  divorce,^  which 
the  law  ratified,  but  of  which  public  opinion  ,even 
that  of  Tiberias,  did  not  judge  favourably.^  In  the 
eyes  of  everyone  she  was, —  to  use  the  Gospel  ex- 
pression,—  a  sinner,  ^  that  is,  one  of  those  women 
whose  chief  aim  is  to  attract  attention  and  corrupt 
the  conscience.  To  what  depth  of  iniquity  did  she 
descend  ?  The  Fathers  of  the  Church  to  whom  we 
owe  the  testimony  of  tradition,  are  not  agreed  on 
this  subject,  by  reason  of  the  various  sentiments 
that  animate  them. 

Some,  more  attached  to  the  reality  of  facts  than 
to  respect  for  the  memory  of  Magdalen,  compare 
her  to  those  brilliant  courtesans,  ^  patricians  often 

1  Josephus:    Viia  (by  himself). 

2  Liglitioot,  loc.  cit. 

3  The  Jews  still  call  Magdaleu  :  SatdUy  "the  apostate." 
■*  "In  civitate  peccatris."     Luke,  VII,  37. 

5  St.  Cyril,  St.  Gregory,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  John  Chrysos- 
tom,  etc.     As  Maldonatus  says  (in  Luc.  loc.   cit.),  it  is  the 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  Oi?  JESUS.  317 

by  birtli,  distinguished  by  their  intelligence  and 
acquirements,  round  whom  the  Rome  of  that 
day  grouped  the  personalities  most  prominent  in 
politics,  in  finance,  and  in  letters.  They  do  not 
appear,  whatever  certain  commentators  may  have 
said,  to  place  her  among  the  rank  of  public  sinners, 
a  degradation  from  which  the  wealth  left  by  her 
parents  must  have  saved  her.  But  they  are  agreed 
that  she  was  reckless  and  defiant  of  public  opinion. 
Others  extenuate  her  fall.  ^  Volatile  and  friv- 
olous, —  proud  of  her  beauty  and  of  the  triumphs 
it  secured  her, —  intoxicated  with  the  seductions  of 
luxury  and  pleasure,  Magdalen  was  compromised 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  or  rather,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  entire  city.  Hellenites,  Romans,  and 
Jews  united  in  the  same  feeling  of  blame  either 
silently  or  openly  declared.  Tiberias  was  hateful 
to  the  true  believers,  who  regarded  it  as  an  almost 
pagan  city,  and  to  frequent  it,  was  to  them,  a  kind 
of  apostasy.  The  Roman  or  Herodian  civil  and 
military  officials  looked  upon  it  as  a  reproduction 
of  Naucratis  or  Corinth,  — one  of  those  places  of 
merry-making,  where  virtuous  women  could 
scarcely  go  without  losing  their  reputation, 
especially  when  they  intended  to  take  a  leading 
part  in  society.  Thus  Magdalen  became  a  type  of 
these  women,  too  numerous  in  our  day,  to  whom 

"coustans   omnium  veterum  opinio."  —  The  word  meretrix 
is  for  these  the  absolute  translation  of :  peccatrix. 

1  A  more  modern  sentiment  which  Maldonatus  treats  as 
worthy  of  respect,  but  contrary  to  all  tradition.  —  Cf.  Bossuet 
on  Les  Trois  Madelaine;  —  Berulle  Qeuores,  etc.  • 


3l8  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

honour  is  a  word,  the  meaning  of  which  they  do 
not  seem  to  understand.  Was  she  therein  the 
least  degree  happier,  and  whatever  reward  th.e 
world  offered  her,  did  it  gratify  all  her  desires? 
Even  from  their  flatterers  such  women  receive 
more  contempt  tlian  they  exact  sacrifices,  and, 
though  queenly  in  their  bearing,  they  are  in 
reality  the  saddest  of  slaves,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  most  fragile  of  idols. ^  Beauty,  wit,  the  heart 
itself,  (for  they  are  not  always  wanting  in  this), 
intellectual  culture,  refined  taste,  elegant  man- 
ners, do  not  always  suffice  to  procure  for  them 
what  they  desire  still  more  than  all,  when  they 
are  by  nature  or  education  above  the  average  — 
the  homage  of  true  esteem.,  which  would  allow 
them  the  illusion  of  a  respectful  love. 

Greece  has  lauded  her  courtesans  and  has 
even  coupled  the  names  of  Pericles  and  Aspasias; 
Egypt  has  deified  Rhodope,  the  foundress  of  a 
temple  and  a  city;  imperial  Rome  has  revelled  in 
the  songs  of  Ovid  and  Tibullus  in  honour  of 
Corinnaand  Lesbia;  the  Lower- Empire  has  i^laced 
Theodora  on  the  throne;  the  kings  of  France  have 
more  than  once  submitted  to  and  imposed  the 
yoke  of  beauties  who  have  remained  famous.  But 
the  vain  illumination  which  surrounded  them  has 
never  appeared  to  these  enchantresses,  even  in  the 
days  of  their  most  deceptive  brilliancy,  to  compen- 

1  It  is  interesting  to  read,  regarding  this  subject,  the 
Revelations  of  Catherine  Emmerich  (c.  XII,  XIII,  XI^IX  and 
XIvVII)  wherein  the  feelings  of  Magdalen's  heart  are 
described  with  much  refinement  and  emotion. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  319 

sate  for  the  simple  name  of  a  virtuous  woman, ^  — 
that  intangible  crown  which  is  forbidden  to  their 
aspirations,  and  for  which  they,  nevertheless, 
continue  to  sigh.  Too  constantly  reminded  by 
their  accomplices  of  the  degradation  to  whicli  they 
have  fallen,  they  would  have  no  longer  believed  in 
the  possibility  of  retracing  their  steps,  had  there 
not  remained  in  the  depths  of  their  weary  hearts  a 
reflex  of  divine  beauty,  like  a  ray  of  light,  upon 
troubled  waters,  struggling  through  clouds  rent  by 
the  tempest. 

Those  to  whom  God  confides  the  delicate 
mission  of  gathering  these  poor  strays,  know  how 
diilficult  it  is  to  awaken  in  them  a  trace  of  faith  in 
the  esteem  of  honest  men.  vSelf-contempt  lies 
hidden  in  the  depth  of  their  souls,  bidding  uni- 
versal defiance  to  every  effort  of  the  most  resource- 
ful and  patient  charity  to  inspire  a  little  courage 
and  hope.  The  greatest  of  all  success  lies  in  the 
re-opening  of  these  hearts  obstinately  folded  with- 
in themselves:  it  is  a  resurrection  more  difficult 
than,  that  of  Lazarus,  and  how  deep  must  be  the 
vibration  of  that  voice  that  bids  them  come  forth 
from  the  tomb !  ^  Before  arriving  at  this  point 
many  days  must  have  been  passed  in  which  the 
intoxication  of  pleasure  failed  to  efface  the  sense 
of  their  misery.^     If  the   erring  woman   can,  by 

1  "A  good  name  is  better  than  riches,"  says  an  ancient 
proverb. 

2  «%azare,  veni  foras!"     John,  XI,  43. 

^     "Ah!  que  de  pleurs  pour  Madeleine, 
Avant  les  pleurs  du  repentir!" 

H.  de  la  Morvonnais. 


320  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

reason  of  her  temperament,  her  education,  or  her 
surroundings  remain  insensible  to  her  abasement, 
we  must  regard  her  as  one  deprived  of  nature  and 
spirit,  —  an  unfortunate  being  in  whom  the  last 
spark  of  the  little  light  that  slione  in  her  at  the 
beginning  of  her  career,  must  be  fatally  extin- 
guished. It  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  Providence, 
and  we  are  not  allowed  to  seek  the  reason  of  these 
anomalies  so  full  of  sadness  and  terror:  perhaps 
in  them  we  confront  an  inheritance  transmitted 
through  several  generations,  or  the  personified 
result  of  the  vices  which  have  for  a  century  cor- 
rupted society.  Tliis  annihilation  of  the  moral 
sense  is  one  of  the  signs  of  decadence:  woman,  at 
the  end  of  the  century  —  like  certain  flow^ers  at 
the  close  of  day,  — indicates  exactly  the  intensity 
of  the  heat,  and  the  approach  of  the  storm. 

This  absense  of  the  moral  sense  is  nevertheless 
exceptional,  as  are  the  souls  themselves  in  whom 
v/e  find  it.  More  generally  the  observer  discovers 
an  incurable  sadness  under  the  false-ringing  laugh, 
and  in  the  feverish  excitement  a  disrelish  that 
nothing  can  overcome.  Hence  those  unforseen 
and  apparently  inexplicable  outbursts,  tears,  wail- 
ings,  reproaches,  —  those  violent  extremes  and 
those  depressions  which  bear  witness  to  hidden 
suffering,  —  those  dislikes  suddenly  succeeding 
wild  transport  and  unconstraint, — this  desire  for 
solitude,  —  those  appeals  to  death,  which  ter- 
minate so  often  the  tumultuous  manifestations  of  a 
life  without  check  or  curb.  Superior  in  certain 
respects  to  the  man  with  whom  she  was  at  first 


THE  FRIKNDSKIP3  OK  JKSUS.  3^1 

infatuated,  and  from  whom  she  does  not  know 
how  to  free  herself,  nor  to  escape  the  society  he 
provides  her,  the  habits  that  are  his  by  nature  or 
which  he  assumes,  the  pleasures  in  which  he 
indulges,  —  the  erring  woman  is  not  slow  to 
severely  condemn  all  that  she  once  believed  to 
captivate  her  heart.  Too  weak  or  too  effeminate 
to  break  her  chain,  she  drags  it  with  a  sullen 
anger  against  herself  and  those  who  have  enslaved 
her.  At  the  same  time,  she  accuses  God,  whom 
she  dares  not  invoke,  considering  herself  unworthy 
of  being  heard;  curses  the  virtue  that  is  a  reproach 
to  her,  and  the  law  which  is  her  condemnation; 
finds  the  days  too  long,  and  dreads  the  approach 
of  eternity,  —  forcing  herself  to  no  longer  believe 
in  her  soul,  in  order  to  escape  the  nightmare  of 
the  chastisement  which  she  wishes  to  doubt,  and 
of  which  she  is  afraid, — throwing  herself,  as  a 
last  resource,  into  the  vortex  where  everything 
disappears  and  is  forgotten  for  the  moment. 

Such  must  have  been  the  case  with  Magdalen. 
Her  mind  was  too  elevated,  and  the  impressions  of 
her  birth  and  education  too  strong  to  allow  her  to 
endure  for  any  length  the  life  that  had  misled  her, 
but  from  which  she  had  not  the  courage  to  fly. 
Therefore  she  passed  through  all  the  phases  we 
have  indicated,  and  as  the  Gospel  gives  us  to 
understand,  she  arrived  at  the  lowest  degradation, 
which  is  also  a  supreme  punishment,  —  the 
physical  and  moral  slavery  of  the  unclean  spirit.^ 

^  Mark,  XVI,  9.  —  "Obsessa,"  says  Jatues  of  Voragine, 
Serin,  de  Mar.  Magdalene.  —  Cf.  Chevallier,  Recits  evangel., 
p.  220. 


322  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OI^  JESUS. 

Whatever  the  world  may  say,  the  demon  often 
plays  an  immediate  part  in  certain  depravities, 
and  the  frenzies  of  every  kind  that  exist  in  mis- 
spent lives,  cannot  be  attributed  to  any  other 
influence  than  his.  If  he  be  the  prince  of  pride 
and  voluptuousness,  is  he  not  also  the  gloomy 
monarch  of  despair?  In  the  same  cup  he  mingles 
the  wine  of  intoxication  with  that  of  death,  and 
the  infatuation  of  pleasure  becomes  often  in  his 
hands  the  sword  that  smites  to  eternal  desolation. 
Magdalen  was  "possessed,"  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  word,  and,  in  explaining  the  extent  of  hei 
misery,  the  Gospel  does  not  fear  to  say,  that  she 
was  under  the  power  of  seven  devils.^  It  was 
indeed  the  precious  pearl  cast  before  swine, ^  and 
we  understand  the  fervent  prayers  of  Martha 
calling  on  the  divine  seeker,^  who  would  recover 
it  at  the  price  of  His  own  blood,  to  place  it  in  His 
diadem. 

The  sacred  text  permits  us  to  fix  Magdalen's 
deliverance  at  a  few  days  before  the  invitation  of 
Simon  the  .Pharisee,  probably  at  the  time  when 
the  healings  of  the  sick  and  those  possessed  were 
multiplied  at  Capharnaum.*  This  is,  at  least,  the 
simplest  way  of  explaining  the  act  of  Magdalen  in 
coming  to  throw  herself  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  with- 
out subtracting  any  of  its  sublime  beauty.     Doubt- 

^     Mark,  XVI,  9 :  De  qua  ejecerat  septern  daemonia. 

2  Mattli.,  VII,  6:  "Neither  cast  ye  your  pearls  before 
swine;  lest  tliey  trample  them  under  their  feet." 

^     Matth.,  XIII,  45:  "A  merchant  seeking  good  pearls." 

4  Matth.,  XII,  10-22;  —  Mark,  III,  10-12;  —  Luke, 
VII,  21. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  323 

less,  our  explanation  is  contrary  to  the  opinion  of 
those  who  believe  in  a  relapse  of  the  poor  sinner,^ 
and  who  connect  her  possession  by  the  devil  v/ith 
a  return  to  the  old  life  ;  but  we  are  not  concerned 
here  v/ith  an  opinion  that  is  altogether  gratuitous, 
and  we  prefer  to  follow  the  commentators,  who 
see  in  the  impetuosity  of  Magdalen  a  natural  proof 
of  her  gratitude  towards  her  deliverer. ^ 

The  Master  had  received  an  invitation  from  a 
Pharisee  named  Simon, ^  which  He  had  willingly 
accepted,  though  He  could  foresee  a  want  of 
respect  on  the  part  of  His  host,  who  was  more 
desirous,  perhaps,  of  satisfying  his  own  curiosity 
or  his  vanity,  than  of  honouring  his  illustrious 
guest.  ^'Tlie  welcome  was  stiff  and  scarcely  civil. 
This  haughty  Pharisee  found  it  hard  to  show 
respect  to  Him  who  otherwise  disregarded  a  sect 
as  proud  as  it  v/as  powerful."  ^  Simon  neglected 
to  pay  the  customary  marks  of  esteem  and  good- 
v/ill  to  his  guest,  but  the  Master  affected  not  to 
perceive  it,  and  took  His  place  at  table  with  the 
Pharisee  and  his  friends,  surrounded,  as  was  usual 
in  the  Hast,  by  a  crowd  of  people  curious  to  have 
a  nearer  viev/  of  the  Prophet. 

It  was  the  evening  of  one  of  those  spring  days^ 
that  are  so  sweet  and  peaceful  on  the  shores  of  the 

1  Catherine  Emmerich,  op.  cit.,  c.  IvXXII. 

2  Le  Camus,  Vie  de  N.-S.  J.-C,  t.  II,  p.  31,  and  note  2. 
—  Cf.  Grenade,  Traite  de  la  Vie  de  N.-S.,  c.  XXXI,  §  1. 

s    Luke,  VII,  36. 

4    Ive  Camus,  Vie  de  N.-S.  J.-C,  t.  II,  p.  29. 
^     At  the  end  of  May  in  the  year  31,  according  to  Cheval- 
lier,  op,  cit.,  p.  217. 


324  'I'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

lake  of  Tiberias.  Tlie  gentle  breeze  wafted  softly 
into  the  room,  caused  a  flickering  of  the  lamps  by 
the  light  of  which  Jesus  and  Simon  took  their 
repast,  in  silence  and  with  a  gravity  that  arose 
rather  from  constraint  than  from  custom.  Around 
them  was  the  same  reserve,  so  clearly  pointed  out 
in  the  pithy  sentence  of  Saint  I^uke.^  The  rupture 
with  the  Pharisees  of  Capharnaum  had  not  yet 
taken  j)lace,  but  it  was  in  the  air,  so  to  speak,  an.d 
everyone  felt  it  coming,  in  spite  of  Simon's 
ambiguous  graciousness  and  the  courtesy  of  Jesus. 
In  the  meantime,  a  v/oman  glided  in  behind  the 
Master,  holding  in  her  hands  one  of  those  alabaster 
vases  with  fragile  necks,  which  the  perfumers 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon  used  to  enclose  their  precious 
ungents.^  It  was  Magdalen,  the  still  famous 
sinner,  known  to  all  the  city  by  her  excesses. 
When  she  learned  ^  of  the  presence  of  Jesus  in 
Simon's  house,  she  formed  the  resolution  of  giving 
a  public  proof  of  her  repentance.  Casting  herself 
at  His  feet,  which  the  position  of  the  divine  guest 
allowed  lier  to  touch,  she  bathed  them  with  her 
tears;  then,  loosening  the  tresses  of  her  hair  so 
artistically    arranged, "^    she    dried    them,     covered 

1  Ivuke,  VII,  36. 

2  Pliny,  Hist,  nat.,  XXXVI,  8  etc. 

^     I^uke,  VII,  37:  "And  behold  .  .  .  when  she  knew"  etc. 

^  The  abundant  and  tastefully  arranged  hair  of  Mag- 
dalen remains  celebrated  among  the  Jews.  The  Talmud 
speaks  of  it,  and  a  corrupted  tradition  has  given  rise  to  the 
fable  of  Mary  the  Hairdresser  (Magdila  cehir  Naschaya)  the 
singular  transformation  of  which  is  shown  by  Sepp,  in  his 
Vie  de  N.-S.J,-C.,  t.  I,  p.  461. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  325 

tliem  with  kisses  and  perfunied  tlieui  witli  the 
spikenard  contained  in  the  alabaster  vase. 

This  action  was  nothing  extraordinary  in 
itself,  as  the  pious  women  of  Judaism  sometim.es 
anointed  the  Rabbis  who  were  celebrated  for  their 
learning  or  their  sanctit}^^  But  the  character  of 
her  person  singularly  changed  the  tenor  of  this 
circumstance,  v/hich  could  not  but  arouse  the 
susceptibilities  of  the  Pharisees.  What  brought 
this  dissolute  woman  here?  —  And  if  she  did  not 
understand  the  indecency  of  her  conduct,  how  was 
it  that  Jesus  took  no  notice  of  it  ?  Ecclesiastes 
had  compared  such  creatures  to  the  mud  that  is 
trampled  under  foot  on  the  high- way, ^  and  the 
Rabbis  taught  that  they  must  not  be  approached 
nearer  than  four  cubits ;  ^  Jesus  could  not  be 
unaware  of  the  fact.  It  must  be,  then,  that  He 
did  not  know  v/ith  what  a  shameless  creature  He 
was  treating,  and  hence  Simon  Y/as  justified  in 
saying:  "If  He  were  a  prophet  He  would  know 
what  miserable  v/oman  touches  Him,  and  that  she 
is  a  public  sinner." 

Perhaps  Simxon  alone  thought  thus,  because  the 
others  remembered  her  deliverance  from  the  evil 
spirit,  and  her  conversion;  perhaps,  also,  they 
had  not  remarked  her  bearing,  or  had  not  at  first 

1  Cf.  Wetstein,  Hor.  Hebraicce,  iu  h.  1.  —  It  was  also 
the  custom  of  slaves  towards  their  masters. 

2  Kccli.,  IX,  10  :  "Omnis  mulier  quae  est  foniicaria 
qua.si  stercus  in  via  conculcabitur." 

2  "Ouaiito  spatio  a  meretrice  recedendum  est?  —  Rabbi 
Chasda  respoudit :  Ad  quatuor  cubitos."  (Schoettgeu,  Horse 
Hebraicse,  I,  p.  348.) 


326  THE  FRIEND.SHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

recognised  lier  in  the  gloom  that  concealed  her. 
It  seems,  at  least,  from  the  silence  of  the  Gospel 
that  they  shared  neither  the  asto  hishment  nor  the 
scandal  of  Simon,  and  Jesus  does  not  include  them 
in  the  lesson  that  He  gives  to  the  Pharisee. 
^ 'Simon,  I  have  something  to  say  to  thee.  — 
Master,  say  it.  — A  creditor  had  two  debtors:  the 
one  owed  him  five  hundred  pence,  the  other  only 
fifty.  And  whereas  they  liad  not  wherewith  to 
pay,  he  forgave  them  their  debt.  Which,  there- 
fore, of  the  two  loved  him  most?"  —  "He,  I 
suppose,"  Simon  hastily  replied,  "to  whom  he 
forgave  most."  —  "Thou  hast  judged  rightly," 
said  Jesus;  and  turning  tovN^ards  Magdalen:  "Thou 
seest  this  woman!  ....  I  entered  into  thy  house, 
and  thou  gavest  Me  no  water  for  My  feet:  she  has 
covered  them  vv^ith  her  tears  and  dried  them  with 
her  hair.  Thou  gavest  Me  not  the  traditional 
kiss,  but  she,  since  she  has  been  here,  has  not 
ceased  to  kiss  My  feet.  Thou  hast  not  anointed 
My  head,  but  she  has  anointed  My  feet." 

A  species  of  grave  irony  contrasted  the  negli- 
gence or  the  impertinence  of  vSimon  with  the 
humble  tenderness  of  this  poor  creature  who 
devoted  herself  to  the  feet,  only  to  the  feet  of  the 
Master,  not  daring  to  raise  herself  to  His  face, 
above  all  to  His  lips,  which  the  seemingly  just 
man  ought  to  have  anointed  and  kissed.  Simon, 
with  bowed  head,  rem^emberedj  no  doubt,  his  debt 
towards  the  divine  mercy,  and,  in  his  conscience, 
more  or  less  enlightened,  found  it  less  heavy  than 
that  of  the  poor  sinner.     The  conclusion  forced 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  327 

itself  Upon  him:  having  received  less,  he  should 
have  loved  less;  and,  —  as  the  Master  made  him 
feel,  — having  but  little  gratitude,  he  had  neglected 
to  appear  solicitous.  However,  that  was  not  what 
Jesus  would  have  him  understand.  —  "Where- 
fore," He  concluded,  "I  say  to  thee:  many  sins 
are  forgiven  her  because  she  hath  loved  much."  ^ 

When  He  had  exorcised  the  demon,  perhaps 
Jesus  had  said  to  her,  as  to  the  paralytic  of  Betli- 
saida:  "Behold,  thou  art  made  whiole:  sin  no 
more,  lest  some  worse  thing  happen  to  thee;"  ^  — 
but  without  asking  her  to  confess  her  sins,  with- 
out imposing  any  penance,  —  thus  increasing  her 
debt  by  the  extreme  tenderness  and  magnificence 
of  the  benefit  conferred.  Yielding  to  the  inspira- 
tion of  her  heart,  Magdalen  conceived  that  she 
could  not  do  better  than  give  public  expression  to 
its  overflowing  anguish,  even  at  the  risk  of  ignor- 
ing what  the  w^orld  calls  its  conventionality.  With 
her  there  was  no  question  of  a  confession  better 
calculated  to  give  scandal  than  to  make  repara- 
tion: she  proposed  only  to  place  her  person  and 
her  life  at  the  Master's  feet,  as  a  slave  henceforth 
bound  to  self-denial  and  obedience.  ^  Of  what 
importance  to  her  was  the  opinion  of  a  world  in 
v/hich  she  had  found,  with  the  cause  of  her  ruin, 
the  contempt  and  hardness  that  nearly  made  tliat 

1  Luke,  VII,  47:  "Remittuntur  ei  peccata  multa  quoniam 
dilexit  multum." 

2  John,  V,  14:  "Ecce  sanus  factus  es :  jam  uoli  pec- 
care,"  etc. 

3  I  Reg.,  XXV,  41 :  "Ecce  famula  tua  sit  in  ancillam,  ut 
lavet  pedes  servorum  domini  mei." 


328  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  Oi'  JKSUS. 

ruin  irreparable?  ^  ''Thus,"  as  Saint  Augustine 
says,  "without  awaiting  an  invitation,  she  had 
run  to  her  physician,  to  ask  with  pious  effrontery 
the  fuhiess  of  her  cure,  seemingly  importunate  to 
the  guests,  but  sure  of  not  being  considered  im- 
prudent in  the  eyes  of  her  Benefactor."  ^ 

"She  whom  a  life  of  sin  has  rendered  unim- 
pressionable,'' Saint  Gregory  observes,  "has  felt 
the  powerful  flame  of  love  kindle  in  her  heart, 
when  purified,"  3  and,  like  the  spouse  in  the 
Canticles,  she  has  risen  to  seek  her  beloved,  with 
foolish  ardour,  dreading  neither  rebuffs  nor  ill- 
treatment,  lost  in  the  thought  of  the  bond  tliat 
unites  her  to  His  feet.  "Because,"  says  the 
sacred  text,  "true  love  is  strong  as  death  ;  its  fire 
burns  like  that  of  hell,  spreading  afar  its  irresist- 
ible rays."^  And  this  new  fire  had  consumed 
all.  Of  the  Magdalen  who  had  scandalized  Tibe- 
rias and  Capharnaum,  there  remained  no  longer  a 
trace.  The  perfumes  that  had  infatuated  the 
slaves  of  her  coquetry,^  she  spread  upon  the  feet 
of  Him  whose  perjiimes  tvere  henceforth  to  draiv 
her^  into  the  ways  of  penitence;  the  tresses  with 
w^hicli  she  had  hitherto  bound  so  many  hearts,  she 

1  S.  August.,  Homil.  XXIII,  cit  Isai.,  IvXV,  5. 

-  Id.,  Homil.  XXIII,  in  Evangel. 

3  S.  Gregor.,  Homil.  XXV,  iu  Kvangel. 

4  Cant.  VIII,  6. 

^  II.  Paralip.,  XVI,  14:  "Lectum  suum  pleuuin  aromati- 
bus  et  unguentis  meretriciis  quae  erant  pigmeutariorum  arte 
confecta." 

^  Caut.,  I,  3:  "Tralie  me  post  te :  curremus  in  odorem 
ungentorum  tuorum." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  329 

loosened  that  He  might  cut  them  freely,  —  a 
harvest  gilt  by  the  sun  of  His  mercy, — a  rich 
trophy  of  the  victory  achieved  by  His  love.  With 
silent  lips,  because  no  word  could  interpret  the 
feelings  of  her  heart,  she  explained  all  by  tears 
and  kisses,  a  thousand  times  more  eloquent.  The 
Master  had  good  reason  to  say:  "She  has  loved 
much";  for  one  must  indeed  love  much  to  humil- 
iate oneself  thus,  and  to  annihilate  self  in  a  .similar 
protestation  of  love!  ^ 

And  the  conclusion  is  evident:  "Many  sins  are 
forgiven  her  because  she  has  loved  much."  Note 
v/ell,  He  had  not  remitted  her  sins,  of  which  she 
had  not  asked  pardon,  since  she  was  specially 
anxious  for  her  corporal  cure,  but  now  she  is 
purified  by  a  solemn  absolution:  "Thy  sins  are 
forgiven  thee!"  ^  Then,  Magdalen  had  nothing 
but  gratitude  for  Him,  but  the  night,  inspirer  of 
prudent  counsels, ^  showed  her  its  inadequacy,  and 
love  rose  in  her  heart  as  the  dawn,  which  the 
recognition  of  her  pardon  miade  more  brilliant  than 
the  noon-day.  ^ 

Happy  Magdalen!  Her  noon-day  shall  have  no 
decline,  and  the  same  beams  shall  shine  on  the 
last  of  her  days  as  on  the  evening  when,  on  the 
shores  of  the  lake,  she  heard  the  Saviour  Himself 
defend,   against  the   ironies  of  the  Pharisees,  the 

^     Grenade,  Traite  de  la  vie  de  N.-S.,  c.  XXXI,  §  1. 
2     Luke,  VII,  48:  "Remittuntur  tibi  peccata." 
^     Eccli.,  XL,  5:  "Somnus  noctis  imtnutat  scientiam." 
*     Psalm.    XXXVI,    6:    "And   He   will   bring   forth   thy 
justice  as  the  light,  and  thy  judgment  as  the  noonday." 


330  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

confidence  which  had  gained  her  salvation,    and 
established  her  in  peace. ^ 

From  this  day  she  followed  the  Master,  with 
Mary  and  the  women  named  in  the  Gospel ; 
Cleophas,  Salome,  Susanna,  Joanna  wife  of  Chusa, 
and  her  ov/n  sister  Martha,  who  had  for  a  long- 
time been  a  disciple  of  the  Messiah.'^  It  was  the 
custom  of  the  pious  Jewish  women  to  associate 
with  the  disciples  who  collected  the  teachings  of 
illustrious  rabbis,  and  no  one  dreamed  of  being 
astonished  at  their  so  doing. ^  If  Magdalen  had 
given  scandal,  it  was  at  least  extenuated  by  her 
conversion,  and  lier  presence  in  the  train  of  the 
prophet  v/ould  contribute  to  the  glory  of  Him,  who 
should  no  longer  have  to  bear  the  reproach  of 
being  too  eager  to  welcome  sinners.  As  for  the 
Apostles,  they  had  but  to  meditate  on  the  par- 
ables of  the  lost  sheep  and  the  lost  groat,  or  the 
Prodigal  Son,  to  admit  that  they  had  forgotten  the 
calling  of  Levi,  and  the  hospitality  of  Zacheus. 
Moreover,  we  may  well  believe  that  the  affection 
which  they  felt,  like  their  Master,  for  Martha  and 
Lazarus,  should  be  shared  by  Magdalen,  whose 
waywardness  they  had  so  often  deplored  and  whose 
conversion  they  had  so  ardently  desired.     She  had 

1  Luke,  VII,  50:  "Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  safe:  Go  in 
peace." 

^    Matth.,  XXVII,  55 ;  —  Luke,  VIII,  2-3. 

3  Saint  Jerome  recalls  this  custom  {In  Matth.,  XXVII, 
56)  according  to  the  Neveh  Schalom,  fol.  56.  —  Cf.  I  Cor.  IX, 
5.  —  Fillion  thinks,  however,  (In  Luke,  VIII,  2-3),  that  Our 
Saviour  made  an  innovation  in  as  much  as  He  allowed  women 
to  follow  Him  on  His  journeys. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  33 1 

long  been  dear  to  them,  dearer  still  since  lier  repen- 
tance ;  each  one  of  them, — with  the  exception 
perhaps  of  Judas, ^  —  regarded  her  as  a  sister  given 
back  to  the  family  of  which  they  themselves  were 
children. 

I^eaving  Magdala,  then,  which  she  seems  only 
to  have  seen  again  in  passing,^  the  converted 
sinner  joined  the  pious  caravans  which  journeyed 
through  Palestine  from  the  years  32  to  34.  From 
time  to  time  she  retired  with  Martha  and  Lazarus 
into  the  solitude  of  Bethany,  when  the  Master 
interrupted  His  preachings  or  found  it  necessary  to 
fly  for  a  time  from  the  pursuits  of  the  Sanhedrin. 
There  she  lived  on  the  remembrance  of  the 
intimacy  to  which  she  had  been  admitted,  and  in 
the  hope  of  still  further  enjoying  its  delights:  and 
when  the  divine  Friend  returned  to  visit  His 
chosen  hosts,  she  remained  kneeling  or  seated  by 
His  side,^  enchanted  by  the  sound  of  His  voice 
and  the  beauty  of  His  countenance,  insensible  to 
Martha's  anxieties,  and  relishing  with  delight  the 
better  part  that  she  had  chosen,  which  could  not 
be  taken  from  her.* 

^  John,  XII,  4 — 6  (where  the  insinuation  is  very 
apparent). 

2  Raban  Maur  {Vita  S.  Mariae  Magdal.,  c.  XI)  says 
that  Our  Lord  returned  there  frequently,  —  assidue,  —  and 
that  He  lodged  there  with  Martha  and  Mary  in  the  course  of 
His  preachings  in  Galilee. 

3  Luke,  X,  39:  "Sitting  also  at  the  Lord's  feet,  heard 
His  word."  —  "Magdalena  vero  assueta  orationi  et  pedibus 
Domini,''  says  the  Brev.  Rom.,  on  the  29th  July. 

^  Luke  X,  42:  "Optimani  partem  elegit,  quae  non  aufe- 
retur  ab  ea."  —  By  an  error  Optimam  is  nearly  always  trans- 


332  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

Let  US  pause  here  for  a  moment  to  reply  to  the 
question  which  has,  no  doubt,  already  suggested 
itself  to  the  mind  of  our  readers,  but  which,  not 
being  formulated,  consequently  remains  unan- 
swered. "What  was  the  nature  of  Magdalen's 
affection  for  the  Saviour?  Was  it  similar  to  our 
ordinary  affections,  or  purely  supernatural?"  It 
may  seem  at  first  rash  to  search  too  closely  into  this 
mystery,  but  if  the  heart  of  Jesus  loves  to  be  inter- 
rogated,^ we  cannot  injure  Magdalen  by  penetrat- 
ing hers,  while  doing  so  with  the  reserve  and 
respect  that  the  object  of  our  investigation 
demands.  Even  human  friendship  is  a  gift  of 
God, — "the  highest  visible  recompense  of  virtue," 
says  Pere  Lacordaire,  —  and  when  the  occasion 
presents  itself  of  studying  it  under  the  most  perfect 
form  it  has  ever  assumed,  we  should  be  wanting 
in  respect  to  God  Himself,  if  we  neglected  to  seek 
out  the  measure  of  so  great  a  favour.^ 

In  short,  the  question  proposed  is  this:  Could 
Jesus-Christ,  first  of  all  as  man,  be  the  object  of  a 
natural  affection,  before  being,  as  God,  the  object 
of  a  supernatural  love?  The  reply  is  contained  in 
what  we  have  already  said  of  the  human  nature 
and  human  life  of  Jesus-Christ,  and  we  might  rest 
satisfied  were  it  not  more  profitable  to  our  instruc- 

lated  as  better.     The  Greek  text,  it  is  true,  says:  "T^j/  dyad^f 

1  Psalm,  CXXXVIII,  23:  "Know  my  heart:  examine 
me,  and  know  my  paths." 

2  Sainte  Madeleine,  c.  I. 

3  Grenade  (Traits  de  la  vie  de  N.-S.,  c.  XXXI,  §  1)  is 
very  interesting  on  this  point. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  333 

tioii  and  to  the  Saviour's  glory,  to  penetrate 
further  into  the  study  of  the  sentiments  He  alone 
could  inspire. 

God  is  absolutely  the  only  being  worthy  of  our 
love,  that  is,  of  the  total  surrender  of  our  heart 
without  desiring  any  return.  But,  invisible  to  the 
eyes  of  tlie  flesh  and  incomprehensible  to  mental 
effort,  He  has  deigned  to  give  us  Himself  in  the 
creatures  made  to  His  image,  like  mirrors  ^  in 
whom  we  can  see  and  appreciate  a  reflex  of  His 
perfections;  just  as  we  can  admire  the  reflection  of 
the  sun  in  crystal  waters,  though  we  may  not  fix 
our  eyes  upon  himself.  The  first  cause,  then,  of 
all  true  affection,  is  the  participation,  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  of  the  perfect  beauty  of  God. 
Consciously  or  unconsciously,  this  recognition  of 
the  divine  is  the  reason  of  the  admiration  and 
veneration  we  feel  for  those  we  love,  —  it  increases 
our  affection  and  incessantly  ennobles  it  in  our 
eyes,  and  bears  ns  along  in  its  ascent  to  the  prin- 
ciple of  its  origin.^ 

The  humanity  of  the  Incarnate  Word  was  the 
purest  and  most  faithful  mirror  of  the  eternal 
beauty:  consequently  it  possessed  the  strongest 
power  of  attraction  that  can  be  conceived,  and 
nothing  was  more  natural  than  to  love  the  Man  in 
Jesus-Christ.     The  more  one  knew  Him,  the  more 

1  I  Cor.,  XIII,  12:  "We  see  now  through  a  glass  in  an 
obscure  manner." 

2  Sunini.  TheoL,  I,  q.  LXIII,  3,  c:  "Commune  est  onini 
creaturae  ut  per  motus  et  operationes  suas  tendat  sicut  in 
finem  suum  in  assimilationeui  divinae  bonitatis,  conservaudo 
guum  esse  et  communicando  illud." 


334  "^^^  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JKSUS. 

affection  was  imperative.  This  is  well  understood 
by  those  uprigiit  and  generous  souls  to  whom  is 
vouchsafed  the  revelation  of  the  most  complete 
and  active  perfections,  hidden  to  the  proud  and 
sensual  who  are  capable  only  of  feeling  the  weight 
of  majesty  transparent  through  the  veil  of  human 
v/eakness/  It  v/as  thus  that  He  drew  to  Himself 
children,  the  humble,  the  suffering,  and  the 
despised,  by  a  charm  that  quickly  became  an 
affectionate  dominating  power.  With  greater 
reason  were  those  whom  He  admitted  to  intimate 
intercourse  inflamed  by  this  power,  such  as  the 
Apostles  and  holy  w^omen,  and  among  them  those 
specially  chosen — John  the  Evangelist  and  Laza- 
rus, Martha  and  Magdalen,  w^hose  eyes  read  His 
heart  most  clearly.  And  since  affection  bestowed 
should  be  in  the  measure  of  affection  testified,  is  it 
astonishing  that  He  was  loved  in  the  same  propor- 
tion as  He  Himself  loved  ? 

Why,  then,  should  not  Magdalen  have  ex- 
perienced at  first  a  feeling  of  natural  affection  for 
the  divine  Master?  Her  quick  intelligence,  her 
ardent  nature,  were  a  sufficient  motive  for  her 
attachment  to  the  beauty  tliat  had  influenced  so 
many  others  less  capable  of  appreciating  it.  Could 
she,  the  object  of  such  great  mercy,  fail  to  feel 
both  love  and  gratitude  spring  up  in  her  heart  ? 
Had  Magdalen  been  indifferent,  she  would  have 
been  a  thousand  times  less  comprehensible  than 

1  Matth.,  XI,  25:  *<Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the 
wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  to  little  ones." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  335 

the  enamoured   penitent  that  tradition  represents 
her.i 

In  drawing  hearts  to  Himself  Jesus  enlightened 
and  purified  them,  supernaturalised  them  in  a 
sense,  by  the  ever-increasing  revelation  of  His 
hidden  glory,  by  a  kind  of  anticipated  vision  of 
His  divinity;  not  as  the  elect  shall  see  it  in 
Heaven,  but  as  it  is  given  to  many  of  them  while 
still  on  earth.  To  those  who  gave  Him  much,  He 
gave  much  in  return;  inviting  them  thus  to  con- 
summate the  sacrifice  of  all  that  was  human  or 
simply  natural ;  until  He  led  them  to  a  state  of 
enlightenment  in  which  nothing  earthly  was  any 
longer  visible — and  for  that  reason,  nothing  was  any 
longer  desirable.  Magdalen  arrived  at  this  state, 
but  not  all  at  once,  strongly  as  she  was  attracted 
towards  the  God  whom  she  recognised  in  the 
Man,  at  their  first  meeting.  She  was  in  the 
beginning  too  conscious  of  her  misery,  even  to 
dream  of  claiming  the  affection  of  the  man;  but 
she  had  confidence  in  that  of  God  precisely  because 
she  was  the  conquest  of  His  grace. ^  Her  love, 
then,  from  the  first  moment  was  supernatural  and 
divine,  not  forgetting,  however,  that  God  came  to 
her  under  the  form  of  a  man  most  worthy  of  her 

1  "Prima  meretur  gaudia  quae  plus  ardebat  coeteris." 
{Hymn.  Vesper,  infesto  S.Mariae  3fa£-daleftae.)—''^edemp- 
toris  ardentissima  dilectrix  ...  ad  pedes  Cliristi  adepta  est," 
says  Raban  Maur  (De  Vita  B.  Mariae  Magdalenae,  c. 
XXXVIII).  He  calls  her  also  in  \\\s  prologue:  "Dulcissima 
dilectrix  Cliristi," 

2  Psalm.  XVII,  20:  "He  saved  me,  because  He  was  well 
pleased  with  me." 


33^  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

love,  and  tliat  she  heard  from  huiiian  lips  the 
words:  "Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee;  tlion  may'st 
go  in  peace." 

From  the  day  that  Magdalen  was  thus  admitted 
to  the  Saviour's  friendship,  she  had  no  other 
desire  than  to  render  herself  more  and  more 
worthy,  by  her  fidelity  to  the  inspirations  of  grace. 
We  find  her  twice  in  the  Gospel,  before  the  hour 
when  we  shall  see  her  weeping  in  silence  at  the 
foot  of  the  cross;  and  it  is  at  Martha's  house  in 
Bethany,  the  retreat  she  appears  to  have  chosen  in 
order  to  reconcile  her  desire  to  fly  from  the  world 
with  the  hope  of  frequently  meeting  there  her 
divine  Friend.^ 

Jesus  loved  this  retreat,  where  His  heart  ex- 
panded in  an  atmosphere  of  tenderness  and  fidelity, 
which  He  had  scarcely  found  elsewhere  in  the 
same  degree.  The  house  of  Peter  at  Capharnaum, 
—  that  of  Zacheus  at  Jericho,  afforded  Him  an 
agreeable  hospitality,  of  which,  however.  He  does 
not  appear  to  have  availed  Himself  to  the  same 
extent.  Bethany  was  in  truth  His  place  of  rest, 
and  He  returned  there  as  often  as  the  necessities  of 
His  evangelical  mission  permitted.  At  each 
solemn  feast,  when  He  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  the 
house  of  Martha  was  the  last  stage  of  His  journey 
towards  the  Holy  City,  even  if  He  did  not  take  up 

^  Raban  Maur  says,  as  we  have  already  seen,  that  she 
continued  to  visit  Magdala,  where  she  had  several  opportun- 
ities of  receiving  the  Master,  during  His  apostolate  in 
Galilee.  {Vit.  S.  Mariae  MagdaL,  c.  XI).  —  But  the  Gospel 
and  tradition  appear  to  give  to  Bethany  a  character  more  in 
conformity  with  our  opinion. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  337 

His  abode  there,  as  it  appears  from  the  eight  days 
which  preceeded  His  Passion. 

If  Martha,  then,  showed  her  eagerness  to  serve 
the  Master,    Magdalen  j^referred  to   listen  to  the 
words  that  fell  from  the  divine  lips,   like  drops  of 
dew  upon  the  heart  and  soul  of  His  servant.      In 
vain  did  Martha,   whose   love   constrained  her  to 
action,    endeavour   to    drav/   her  sister  from    this 
indolent  contemplation:  Jesus  defended  Magdalen, 
and  secured  her  the  tranquil  joy  of  the  part  she 
had   chosen   by   His   inspiration.       She    was    not, 
however,  inactive  when  occasion  demanded,  as  on 
the  day  when,  at  the  house  of  Simon  the   Iveper, 
she  renewed  the  anointing  of  Capharnaum.^     But 
now  her  appearance  had  changed,  her  charms  were 
quite  different.      "She  was  no  longer  the  woman 
whose  youth  and  beauty  were  but  a  cloak  for  the 
infamy  of  vice,   and  who  timidly  approached  the 
feet  of  Jesus  like  a  servant,  there  to  shed  and  dry 
her  tears.     Three  years  of  grace  had  passed  over 
her  head,  and  sanctity  enveloped  her  whole  person 
in  a  divine  radiance.      She  enters  therefore,   and 
breaking  the  alabaster  vase  which  she  holds  in  her 
hands,  she  pours  its  perfume  on  the  head  of  the 
Saviour.     Magdalen  breaks  the  alabaster  because 
she  understands  that  all  is  over,   and  that  never 
again  shall  the    Lord  receive   from  the  piety  of 
men,  a  similar  homage.      This  action  of  prophetic 
love  and  despair  accomplished,   Mary  remembers 
her  former  baseness,   and  running  to  the  feet  of 

1     Matth.,  XXVI,   6-13;  — Mark,   XIV,   3-9;  John,  XII, 
2-8. 


338  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Jesus,  she  pours  on  tliem  from  a  remnant  of  the 
vase,  the  remainder  of  the  perfume,  which  she 
dries  with  her  hair.  But  the  Gospel  mentions  no 
more  tears.  She  should  shed  them  for  the  last 
time  on  another  occasion,  and  in  another  place. 
Here  strength  and  serenity  were  required  :  it  was 
no  longer  the  hour  of  pardon,  and  the  hour  of  the 
tomb  had  not  yet  arrived." 

Eternal  wretchedness  of  men!  This  time  it 
is  not  the  Pharisee  who  doubts  his  God,  because 
he  sees  Him  touched  by  a  sinner;  it  is  the  disciples 
themselves  who  are  indignant  to  see  so  precious  a 
perfume  shed  upon  the  head  of  their  Master  —  on 
this  head  that  they  shall  soon  see  crowned  with 
thorns.  "For  what  good,"  they  say  among  them- 
selves, "the  waste  of  this  perfume?  It  might  have 
been  sold  for  more  than  three  hundred  pence  and 
given  to  the  poor."  ^  Herein  we  recognise  the 
weakness  of  our  intellect  before  the  mysteries  of 
God.  Jesus  is  not  offended  at  their  want  of  faith  ; 
He  says  to  them  gently:  "Let  her  alone:  why  do 
you  molest  her  ?  She  hath  wrought  a  good  work 
upon  Me:  for  the  poor  you  have  always  with  you, 
but  Me  you  have  not  always.  She  hath  done  what 
she  could,  and  she  is  come  beforehand  to  anoint 
My  body  for  the  burial.  Amen,  I  say  to  you, 
wheresoever  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached  in  the 
whole  world,  that  also  which  she  hath  done  shall 
be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her."^  One  feels  the 
tone  of  sadness  in  these  words,   and  witnesses  also 

1  Mark,  XIV,  4-5. 

2  Mark,  XIV,  6-9. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  339 

the  advance  of  Mary  Magdalen  in  love  and  know- 
ledge. What  words  have  already  been  spoken  of 
this  woman,  and  from  whose  lips  they  have  fallen! 
—  ''Many  sins  shall  be  forgiven  her  because  she 
hath  loved  much.  —  Mary  hath  chosen  the  better 
part  which  shall  not  be  taken  from  her.  —  Where- 
soever til  is  Gospel  shall  be  preached,  that  also 
which  she  hath  done  shall  be  told  for  a  memorial 
of  her."  1 

But  she  was  yet  again  to  hear  words  still  more 
profound  and  sweet.  On  Calvary,  though  the 
Master's  eyes  must  have  fallen  upon  her,  no  sound 
escaped  His  lips;  that  hour  belonged  entirely  to 
God,  to  souls,  to  their  definite  reconciliation.  No 
special  friendship  was  prominent,  and  Mary  her- 
self here  received  from  her  Son  only  the  name  of 
mother,  which  He  used  for  man's  benefit.  But  on 
the  day  of  the  Resurrection,  after  the  debt  of  filial 
love  had  been  paid  by  His  apparition  to  Mary, 
Jesus  could  not  leave  it  unpaid  to  the  strongest  and 
most  tender  friendship.  This  is  why,  the  Gospel 
tells  us.  He  appeared  first  to  Mary  Magdalen,  and 
the  sacred  text  strangely  adds  "out  of  whom  He 
had  cast  seven  devils."  ^  What  a  remembrance  in 
such  a  circumstance!  The  Evangelist  was  right 
in  recalling  it.  Mary  was  the  chosen  friend  of 
the  Redeemer  because  she  was  His  most  perfect 
conquest,  —  because  she  loved  Him  more  ardently 
in  acknowledgment  of  His  great  mercy,  —  because 

1     Ivacordaire,  Sainte  Marie- Madelaine,  c.  IV. 
-     Mark,  XVI,  9:  "Surgens  autem  ....  apparuit  primo 
Mariae  Magdalenae,  de  quae  ejecerat  septeui  daemonia." 


340  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

she  liacl  sliared  and  taken  a  principal  part  in  the 
sufferings  of  His  Passion.  She  had  thus  a  right 
"to  the  privilege  of  being  the  first  to  see  the  Son 
of  God  risen  from  the  tomb,  the  vanquisher  of  the 
devil,  of  sin,  of  the  world,  of  death  ;  and  to  be  the 
first  to  obtain  by  this  vision,  the  certainty  and  con- 
solation of  the  eternal  salvation  of  mankind."^ 
But  let  us  follov/  Saint  John's  account  of  this  inter- 
view between  Magdalen  and  the  risen  Jesus. 2 
There  is  not  in  all  the  books  that  are  justly  prized, 
a  page  comparable  to  this. 

"On  the  first  day  of  the  week  Mary  Magdalen 
Cometh  in  the  morning,  it  being  yet  dark,  to  the 
sepulchre,  and  she  saw  the  stone  taken  away  from 
the  sepulchre.  She  ran,  therefore,  and  cometh  to 
Simon- Peter  and  to  the  other  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved,  and  said  to  them:  They  have  taken  away 
the  lyord  out  of  the  sepulchre,  and  we  know  not 
where  they  have  laid  Him.  Peter,  therefore,  went 
out,  and  that  other  disciple,  and  they  came  to  the 
sepulchre  ....  So  the  disciples  (having  found 
nothing  but  the  linen  cloths  lying)  went  away 
again  to  their  home.  But  Mary  stood  without  at 
the  sepulchre,  weeping.  Whilst  she  was  there 
weeping,  she  stooped  down,  and  looked  into  the 
sepulchre.  And  she  saw  two  Angels  in  white, 
sitting,  one  at  the  head,  and  one  at  the  feet,  where 
the  body  of  Jesus  had  been  laid.  They  say  to  her: 
Woman,  why  weepest  thou?  She  saith  to  them: 
Because  they  have  taken  away  my  I^ord,   and  I 

1  IvECordaire:  op.  cit.^  c.  V. 

2  John,  XX,  1-18. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  34 1 

know  not  where  tliey  have  laid  Him.  When  she 
had  said  these  words,  she  turned  herself  back,  and 
sav/  Jesus  standing  ;  and  she  knew  not  that  it  was 
Jesus.  Jesus  saith  to  her;  Woman,  why  weepest 
thou?  whom  seekest  thou?  She,  thinking  that  it 
was  the  gardener,  saith  to  Him:  Sir,  if  thou  hast 
taken  Him  away,  tell  me  where  thou  hast  laid 
Him,  and  I  will  take  Him  away.  Jesus  saith  to 
her;  Mary.  She,  turning,  saith  to  Him;  Rabboni 
(that  is  to  say.  Master)!  Jesus  saith  to  her:  Do 
not  touch  Me,  for  I  have  not  yet  ascended  to 
My  Father;  but  go  to  My  brethren,  and  say  to 
them:  I  ascend  to  My  Father  and  to  your  Father, 
to  My  God  and  your  God!" 

V/hat  comm.entary  would  not  disfigure  the 
splendour  of  this  incomparable  narrative?  I^et  us 
borrow,  however,  from  the  historian  of  Magdalen's 
heart  some  words  that  are  sure  to  be  found  worthy 
of  a  place  after  those  of  Saint  John.  "Mary!  Oh, 
the  accent  in  which  this  word  was  spoken!  An 
accent  of  reproach,  because  Magdalen  had  not 
recognised  Jesus ;  an  accent  of  revelation  con- 
tained in  the  reproach.  Mary!  ah,  even  here  on 
earth,  how  sweet  is  our  name  on  the  lips  of  a 
friend,  and  hov/  it  pierces  to  the  sorrowful  depths 
of  our  being !  And  if  it  were  God  who  pronounced 
it  in  caressing  tones;  if  it  were  God,  dead  for  us, 
risen  for  us,  who  called  us  by  our  name,  what 
echo  would  it  not  waken  in  the  infinite  abyss  of 
our  misery?  Mary  Magdalen  understood  every- 
thing in  her  name:  slie  understood  the  mystery  of 
the  Resurrection  v/hich  she  had  not  hitherto  con- 


342  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

ceived :  she  understood  in  it  the  love  of  her 
Saviour,  and  in  this  love  she  recognised  Him. 
Master!  she  replied.  But  one  word  sufficed,  as 
one  word  had  sufficed  for  the  Son  of  God.  The 
more  souls  love  one  another,  the  fewer  their 
words."  ^ 

After  this  incident,  the  Gospel  seems  to 
hesitate  to  pronounce  this  henceforth-consecrated 
name,  which  we  shall  find  only  in  tradition  and 
history. 2  Following  closely  in  the  footsteps  of  the 
Virgin-Mother,  Magdalen  took  part  with  her  in 
the  last  events  of  the  terrestial  life  of  the  Redeemer. 
Then,  placed  by  Peter  under  the  care  of  the  dis- 
ciple Maximin,  as  her  sister  had  been  confided  to 
that  of  the  deacon  Parmenas,  she  continued  her 
life  of  meditation  and  prayer  in  the  house  of 
Bethany,  now  become  the  cathedral  church  of  her 
brother  Lazarus.^  Did  she  follow  him  to  the 
island  of  Cyprus,  at  the  time  of  the  first  dispersion 
of  the  disciples?  We  may  doubt  it  and  we  believe 
it  more  probable  that  she  stayed  for  a  short  time 
in  the  more  tranquil  Galilee,  or  in  some  Phoenician 
town  on   the   sea-coast,    whence    she   returned    to 

1  Eacordaire,  op.  cit.,  c.  V. 

2  Raban  Maur  has  left  us  a  history  of  Magdalen  {Vita 
B.  Mariae  Magdalenae'),  the  authority  of  which  is  generally 
recognised.  —  There  is  usually  coupled  with  this  work  a  very 
ancient  Life  of  Saint  Magdalen  revised  by  Raban  Maur  and 
James  of  Voragine.  —  Cf.  Faillon  (Monuments  inedits),  Ea- 
cordaire  (Sainte  Marie-Madeleine),  etc. 

3  We  have  related  further  back  (Book  II,  chapter  II), 
the  oriental  tradition  that  Magdalen  took  up  her  abode  in  the 
sepulchre  of  Eazarus,  where  she  lived  as  a  recluse  for  several 
years. 


TKK  FRIKNDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  343 

Jerusalem  on  the  death  of  Saint  James  and  the 
imprisonment  of  Saint  Peter.     About  this  period, 
the    prince  of    the    Apostles  ordered   the  definite 
dispersion  of  the  first  vntnesses  of  the  faith,   and 
he   sent  a    great  number    of   them    to    Gaul    and 
Spain,   among  whom  we  find    Lazarus,    his  two 
sisters,  Maximin  and  Parmenas.     V\^e  have  seen 
elsewhere  how  the  Jews  of  Joppa  tried  to  destroy 
the  hopes  of  the  friends  of  Jesus,   also  how  God 
preserved  them  from  death  and  guided  them  to  the 
shores  of   Provence,  where  the   evangelisation  of 
the    Gauls   began,    and    whence    the   Apostles ^  of 
Spain  went  to  the  people  whom  they  were  to  bring 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  faith.     Passing  through 
Aries,  where   local    tradition  attributes  to   her  a 
share  in  the  first  efforts  of  Trophimus,^  Magdalen 
went   down   towards    Marseilles,    where    she    was 
actively  associated    with    the    apostolic   works   of 
Martha   and    Lazarus.       If   we    may   believe    the 
ancient  documents  examined  by  James  of  Vorag- 
ine,'  she   obtained   from  the   first  an   ascendancy 
over  the  mind  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  Marseilles, 
and  that  of  his  wife,  due  as  much  to  her  personal 
charm  as  to  the  force  of  her  words  and  the  power 
of  her  miracles.     After  having  saved  from  death 
the  wife  and  her  newly-born  child,   she  brought 
back    sound    and    unhurt   the    husband    who    had 

1  Cf.  Mistral,  Mireio,  c.  XI.  — The  same  tradition  points 
to  Magdalen  as  having  first  evangelised  the  country  of 
Maguelonne,  immediately  after  embarking.  (Gariel,  Hist, 
des  eveques  de  Maguelonne  et  de  Montpellier.) 

2  Legenda  aurea:  De  smida  31.  iMagdalena,  fol.  LXXX 
verso. 


344  '^^^^  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

undertaken  a  voyage  to  Rome,  and  prevailed  upon 
him  to  favour  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  the 
old  Phoenician  city  and  the  whole  extent  of  his 
territory.  There  is  nothing  incredible  in  this 
story,  provided  that  we  allow  for  the  marvellous, 
with  which  the  piety  of  the  middle  ages  appears  to 
have  surrounded  historical  facts.  ''These  vain 
amplifications  of  a  false  rhetoric"  are  to  the 
* 'popular  and  all-powerful  tradition"  what  par- 
asites are  to  the  oak  :  they  take  nothing  from  its 
value,  but  confirm  it,  on  the  contrary,  by  showing 
how  deeply  it  remains  engraven  on  all  minds  and 
hearts.^ 

Magdalen  was  not,  however,  to  fix  her  abode  at 
Marseilles,  and  Maximin  took  her  with  him  to 
Aix,  of  which  city  he  was  the  first  Bishop.^  Then 
sh.e  left  him  to  withdraw  into  solitude,  so  as  to 
leave  herself  full  liberty  for  contemplation,  which 
became  more  and  more  the  law  of  her  life,  in  con- 
formity with  the  words  of  the  Lord.  "Leaving 
Marseilles  and  going  in  the  direction  of  the  Alps, 
the  traveller  enters  a  valley  that  skirts  the  sea 
which  is  still  hidden  by  the  high  mountains  that 
intercept  the  view  of  its  waves.  On  the  opposite 
side  there  arises  another  chain,  and  between  these 
tv70  ramparts  the  valley  runs  towards  an  abrupt 
amphitheatre  which  seems  to  bar  his  progress, 
while  a  river  bordered  with  trees  glides  without 
obstacle  through   rich   meadows,   and   fertilizes   a 

^     Lacordaire,  op.  cit.,  c.  VI. 

2  There  was  still  to  be  seen,  at  the  beginning  of  our 
century,  in  the  church  of  Saint-Saviour,  the  oratory  where 
Saint  Magdalen  prayed. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  345 

thousand  habitations.  Its  name  is  as  obscure  as 
its  waters.^  It  guides  the  traveller,  so  to  speak, 
and  after  meandering  through  a  more  open  country, 
arrested  by  the  mountains  it  turns  abruptly  to  the 
left,  tumbles  into  a  ravine  in  a  foaming  torrent, 
and  shooting  along  through  a  maze  of  wooded 
peaks  and  bare  summits,  it  at  length  finds  its 
source  near  a  peaceful  plateau  crowned  by  an 
immense  solitary  rock  ....  In  the  centre  of  these 
high  and  precipitous  rocks,  which  resemble  a 
curtain  of  stone,  the  eye  discovers  a  habitation 
which  seems  suspended  in  mid-air,  and  at  their 
base  a  forest,  the  novelty  of  which  attracts  atten- 
tion. There  is  no  longer  the  tapering  and  sweet- 
scented  pine  of  Provence,  nor  the  green  oak,  nor 
tlie  spreading  trees  that  the  traveller  has  encoun- 
tered on  his  way.  One  might  say  that,  by  an 
inexplicable  prodigy,  the  North  has  lavished  here 
all  the  magnificence  of  its  vegetation.  Here  is 
the  soil  and  the  sky  of  the  South,  with  the  shady 
forests  of  England.  Quite  near,  two  paces  off,  on 
tlie  mountain  side,  one  discovers  the  true  nature  of 
the  country;  this  spot  making  the  sole  exception. 
And  if  one  penetrates  but  a  little  way,  the  forest 
envelopes  one  in  all  its  majesty,  resembling  in  its 
profound  darkness,  its  shadows,  and  its  silence, 
those  sacred  woods  which  the  hatchet  of  the 
anciejits  never  profaned.  There  also  the  centuries 
have  sole  access;  they  alone  by  right  may  blast 
the   ancient   trunks    and    reanimate   their  vigour: 

^     It  is  the  Huveaune,  a  rivulet  that  empties  itself  into 
the  sea  at  Marseilles,  at  the  extremity  of  the  Praclo. 


346  TIIK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

they  alone  have  reigned  and  still  reign,  the  instru- 
ment of  a  respect  higher  than  their  own,  and 
which  add  to  the  delight  of  the  eye,  also  the 
delight  of  thought.''  ^ 

At  the  side  of  the  rock  that  overhangs  the 
forest,  a  deep  cavern  opens,  in  the  centre  of  which 
there  is  an  eminence  always  dry  in  the  midst  of 
the  oozing  waters  that  give  birth  to  the  river 
Huveauue.  It  was  to  this  place  that  Magdalen 
usually  came  to  pray  and  rest  during  the  short 
moments  stolen  from  contemplation.  Seven  times 
a  day,  so  tradition  affirms,^  she  was  raised  in  the 
arms  of  angels  to  the  summit  of  the  rock,  as  on 
another  Thabor,  "to  hear  there  what  Saint  Paul 
declares  he  heard  without  being  able  to  give  it 
expression.^  During  thirty  years  she  led  this 
almost  heavenly  life,  while  waiting  her  final 
reunion  with  Him  whom  she  sought  with  eager 
eyes  in  the  profound  depths  of  the  sky  of  Provence. 
The  day  of  this  reunion  had  been  foretold  her,  not 
by  the  angels  who  ministered  to  her,  but  by  the 
Son  of  God  Himself.*  When  it  'came,  she  v/as 
transported  to  the  end  of  the  valley,  on  the 
Aurelian  Way,  at  some  distance  from  the  oratory 
in  which  Maximin  lived,  near  the  town  of  Tegul- 

1  Lacordaiie,  op.  cit.  Prologue. 

2  Raban  Maur  {De  Vita  B.  Mariae  Magdalenae,  c. 
XXXIX)  hesitates  to  acknowledge  the  value  of  this  tradition, 
without  however  rejecting  it  altogether. 

^  Lacordaire,  op.  cit.,  c.  VII. — A  chapel  called  Saint 
Pilon  commemorates  the  place  of  these  ecstasies. 

■*     Raban  Maur,  op.  cit.,  c.  XIvV,  cit  Codices  Regii. 


thp:  friendships  of  jesus.  347 

ata.i     "The    Bishop   awaited    here   the    friend   of 
his  Master;  ^  he  received  her,  gave  her  the  Holy 
Coiniiiunion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesns  Christ, 
and  falling  into  the  sleep  of  death,  she  rested  in 
peace.      Saint  Maximin  laid  her  body  in  a  tomb 
of   alabaster,   and    there    prepared    his  own    vault 
opposite  the  monument  where  lie   had   preserved 
the   relics  which   should  confer  on  this   hitherto 
unknown  corner  of  the  world,  an  immortal  fame.^ 
The  basilica  raised  by  the  piety  of  the  faithful 
over  tlie  tomb  of  the  illustrious  penitent,  contained 
her  relics   for  seven    hundred    years,    during  the 
course  of  wliich  Cassian,   in  the   fourth  century, 
established    under    her    protection    the    religious 
whom  he  had  already  settled  at  Marseilles,  near 
the  tomb  of  Saint  Lazarus.     At  the  beginning  of 
the  eighth  century  the  Saracens  invaded  Provence, 
pillaging  and  destroying  the  churches.     To  avoid 
the  profanation  of  the  relics  confided  to  their  care, 
the  Cassianites  concealed  beneath  earth  and  stones 
the  crypt  where  she  reposed,  after  having  taken 
the  precaution  to  engrave  on  the  sepulchre  of  Mag- 
dalen,  an  inscription  which  should  guarantee  its 
authenticity.     On  the  9th  December  1279,  Charles 
of  Anjou,  nephew  of  Saint  Louis,  obeying  a  divine 
inspiration,   excavated  the  place  vv^hich  had  been 
pointed    out    to    him,    and    brought   to    light    the 
alabaster  tomb  in  which  the  friend  of  the  Saviour 

1  Voy,  Itineraire  d'Antonin.  —  Now  the  town  of  Saint- 
Maximin  (Var). 

2  '<Amica  Salvatoris,"  say  the  Codices  Regii. 

3  Lacordaire,  op,  cU.,  c.  VII.— V.  in  Appendix,  letter  A. 


348  THE  FPaENDSIIIPS  OF  JESUS. 

slept.  A  marvellous  sign  enabled  him  to  recognise 
the  remains  of  Magdalen  without  hesitation.  On 
lier  forehead,  over  the  left  temple,  there  still  ad- 
hered a  piece  of  living  flesh,  which  marked  the 
place  where  the  hand  of  the  risen  Jesus  had 
touched  Magdalen,  when  He  had  said  to  her: 
*'Noli  me  tangere!"  -^ 

On  the  I2tli  May  of  the  following  year,  Charles 
solemnly  translated  the  relics  so  miraculously  dis- 
covered. He  placed  apart,  in  precious  reliquaries, 
the  head,  which  his  father,  the  king  of  Sicily, 
adorned  with  his  own  crown;  and  a  bone  of  the 
right  arm  which  had  spread  the  perfume  on  the 
feet  of  Christ.  A  silver  reliquary  received  the  rest 
of  the  bones,  and  the  whole  were  enclosed  in  a 
subterranean  chapel  of  marble,  over  which  tlie 
construction  of  a  large  cliurch  was  commenced, 
which  was  later  on  confided  to  the  care  of  the 
Friar- Preachers.'-^ 

From  this  moment  the  devotion  of  tlie  people 
did  not  cease  to  surround  the  crypt  of  Saint  Max- 
imin  with  the  most  enthusiastic  veneration.  Pon- 
tiffs and  kings  came  there  to  lay  dov/n  the  splen- 
dour of  their  crowns.  Louis  XI,  Charles  VIH, 
Louis  XII,  Anne  of  Bretagne,  Francis  I, 
Charles  IX,  Louis  XIII,  and  Louis  XVI  brouglit 
tliere  the  homage  of  France.  John  XXII,  Bene- 
dict  XII,    Clement   VI,    Innocent  VI,    Urban   V, 

1  This  fragment  of  flesh  was  detached  from  the  skull  iu 
1780:  since  then  it  has  been  preserved,  without  corruption, 
in  a  crystal  vase,  on  the  altar  of  the  crypt. 

2  By  a  Bull  of  Boniface  VIII,  dated  6th  April  1295. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  349 

Gregory  XI,  Clement  VII,  and  Benedict  XIII, 
brought  there  still  more,  —  the  testimony  of  the 
veneration  of  the  whole  Catholic  world.  During 
the  tempest  of  the  revolution  God  charged  Lucien 
Bonaparte  to  watch  over  the  remains  of  His 
friend;  not  a  stone  of  the  v/alls  that  protected  them 
fell,  and  "when  the  divine  anger,  appeased  by  so 
many  misfortunes,  passed  away  from  us,  France 
was  astonished  to  find  still  standing,  the  work  of 
the  nephews  and  sons  of  Saint  lyouis,  and  engraved 
thereon  the  name  of  a  new  race  and  the  commence- 
ment of  another  history."  ^ 

Obedient  to  the  teachings  of  the  past,  our  cen- 
tury has  retaken  the  way  of  the  Sainte-Baume  and 
of  Saint  Maximin,  where  the  most  illustrious  of 
Magdalen^s  historians  has  re-established  the  Friar- 
Preachers.  "O  condescension  of  God  for  our 
cherished  aspirations,"  exclaims  I^acordaire,  "we 
have  seen  the  vacant  cloister  repeopled,  the  an- 
cient splendour  reassume  its  interrupted  harmony, 
the  past  emerge  from  its  tomb  with  a  youth  we 
could  not  believe  possible,  and  we  fancy  we  have 
heard  Jesus-Christ  say  to  the  faithful  friend  who 
could  not  believe  in  His  resurrection,  this  word  of 
reproach  and  light:  Mary!"  ^ 

^    Lacordaire,  op.  cit.,  c.  VII. 
^    Id.  ibid.,  c.  VIII. 


THIRD  BOOK. 
THE  FRIENDS  OF  HIS  MISSION. 


(351) 


THIRD  BOOK. 
THE  FRIENDS  OF  HIS  MISSION. 

Chapter  I. 
The    Apostles. 

"I  have  called  yovi  friends." 

John  XV,  15. 

If  natural  affections  maintain  an  ascendancy 
over  our  hearts  that  bids  defiance  to  time  and  death, 
they  are,  notwithstanding,  less  powerful  than 
those  whose  source  lies  in  our  free  choice.  The 
Scripture  rightly  says  "A  friend  is  preferable  to  a 
brother,"  ^  because  from  a  friend  one  may  expect 
those  consolations  and  helps  for  which  one  does 
not  look  in  a  brother,  unless  indeed  he  has  also 
become  a  chosen  friend.  The  ties  of  kinship  do 
not  necessarily  imply  the  confidence,  the  unreserve, 
the  union  of  mind  and  heart  that  are  the  natural 
outcome  of  friendship ;  they  bring  into  contact 
rather  than  bind  souls  and  lives  together,  notwith- 
standing the  likeness  which  is  the  first  cause  of 
their  affection.  It  does  not  suffice  for  men  to  be 
alike,  to  love  one  another;  there  must  be  the  spon- 
taneous discovery  and  tlie  unconstrained  proof  of 
this  similarity,  which  would  be  spoiled  were  it 
forced  upon  our  minds  and  more  especially  upon 

A     Prov.  XVIII,  24.  —  Keel.  VI,  15. 
(353) 


354 

our  conviction.  Between  brothers,  this  work  of 
mutual  study  and  understanding,  is  accomplished 
tmconsciously,  slowly  and  surely,  determining  pre- 
ferences, sometimes  rejections,  contrary  to  the  ex- 
pectation of  those  who  watch  the  development  of 
our  life;  running  counter  to  the  efforts  which  tend 
to  effect  a  closer  union  or  to  repress  antipathies. 
Still,  there  always  remains  this  difference  between 
fraternal  affection  and  friendship  as  we  understand 
it,  that  the  brother  who  becomes  the  friend  has 
little  or  nothing  to  claim  from  the  union  of  birth. 
Choice  sets  at  naught  the  rights  of  nature,  or  at 
least,  gives  them  alv^^ays  a  secondary  place.  But, 
as  we  have  already  remarked,  friendships  formed 
by  choice  take  different  degrees,  and  arrange  them- 
selves according  to  the  esteem  in  which  we  hold 
them.  They  disclose,  in  fact,  a  charm,  more  or 
less  delightful  according  to  their  intrinsic  value, 
their  possible  or  realised  action,  or  the  profit  and 
pleasure  which  we  expect  or  have  already  derived 
from  them.  An  intelligent  being  cannot  place  on 
the  same  level  all  the  souls  in  whom  he  recognises 
a  right  to  attract  his  own,  because  he  discovers 
differences  in  them  or  in  himself,  according  to 
which  he  must  graduate  their  value.  This  is  why 
the  wise  man  prefers,  to  the  friendships  which 
make  his  life  pleasant,  those  which  crown  it  with 
merit  and  honour ;  that  is  to  say,  those  which 
efficaciously  serve  the  work  for  which  he  believes 
himself  predestined.  The  first  give  him  the 
happiness  of  repose ;  the  second  assure  the  glory 
and  fruitfulness  of  his  labour,  —  and,  as  labour  is 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  355 

the  ordinary  law  of  life,  while  rest  is  merely  a 
passing  accident,  it  is  quite  natural  that  he  should 
prefer  his  fellow- workers,  especially  if  he  has  been 
able  to  choose  them  with  full  liberty.  Not  that  he 
is  unfettered  in  his  choice  by  distinctly  defined 
conditions  which  determine  the  character  of  his 
future  companions,  and  the  expectations  of  which 
they  are  the  guarantee;  but  he  has  the  right  to 
believe  that  he  shall  communicate  to  them  as 
much  of  his  own  vigour  as  shall  preclude  all  fear 
of  their  original  inefficiency,  and  enable  him  to 
regard  them  as  possessing  already  that  equality  on 
which  friendship  is  based.  In  any  case,  he  may 
believe  them  capable  of  friendship  in  the  future, 
on  account  of  the  advantages  they  shall  derive 
from  union  with  himself :  he  would  not  be  human 
if  he  had  not  tlie  conviction  of  a  superiority  which 
should  supplement  the  deficiencies  of  their  begin- 
ning, and  foster  their  onward  progression.  In  this 
manner,  associations  that  are  destined  to  secure 
the  fortune  and  renov/n  of  those  who  establish 
them,  are  usually  formed.  We  may  sometimes 
trace  in  them  the  agency  of  relationshij)  and  daily 
intercourse,  and  especially  of  kindred  sympathies, 
so  that  this  latter  form  of  friendship  summarises 
all  others,  particularly  when  time,  trials  borne  in 
common,  and  nnitual  services  have  permanently 
sealed  their  first  union. 

Thus  it  is  that  we  find  between  Jesus-Christ 
and  His  Apostles  that  wonderful  companionship, 
which  made  the  humblest  among  men  fellow- 
labourers    of    the    Incarnate    Word.      There  can 


356  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

be  no  doubt  that  He  needed  no  one  l)nt  Himself  to 
accomplish  the  v/ork  of  Redemption,  and  after- 
wards to  give  the  light  of  His  Gospel  to  the  world. 
But  in  clothing  Himself  in  human  form,  He  had 
chosen  to  submit  to  the  exigencies  and  the  laws  of 
our  life,  to  subordinate  thereto  the  development  of 
His  plan,  and  consequently  to  employ  m.en  to 
whom  He  was  to  communicate  His  spirit  and  His 
power.  It  is  evident  that  He  exercised  in  His 
choice  the  fulness  of  liberty;  but  it  seems  that  He 
should  choose  those  helpers  wlio  could  not  be 
deceived  regarding  the  value  of  their  participation 
in  the  work  of  the  Master,  and  this  the  more  that 
the  weakness  inherent  in  the  human  mind  did  not 
place  them  beyond  the  temptation  of  pride.  It  is 
not  to  the  wise  of  the  world,  as  He  Himself  said, 
but  to  the  little  ones,^  that  the  heavenly  Father 
wishes  to  reveal  Himself  through  His  Son.  It  was 
fitting  that  the  Apostles  should  not  choose,  but 
should  be  chosen,^  without  antecedent  merit  on 
their  part ;  that  they  should  have  the  profound 
conviction  of  their  impotence  to  come  to  the  Son 
without  the  grace  of  the  Father,^  and  that  they 
should  consider  themselves  always  as  unprofitable 
servants.^  Consequently,  He  should  communicate 
to  them  the  more  unceasingly  His  knowledge  and 

^  Luke,  X,  21:  "Abscondisti  haec  a  sapientibus  et  reve. 
lasti  parvulis." 

2    John,  XIII,  18  ;  —  XV,  16  and  19. 

^  Id.,  VI,  66:  "No  man  can  come  to  Me,  unless  it  be 
given  him  b}^  My  Father. 

^  Ivuke,  XVII,  10;  "Say:  We  are  unprofitable  ser- 
vants." 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  357 

His  power ;  He  should  thus  raise  them  gradually 
eveu  to  heights,  from  the  very  thought  of  which 
the  mind  recoils;  He  should  make  them  somethiug 
more  than  men,  if  we  may  say  so  ;  and  should  one 
day  promise  them  those  celestial  thrones,  whence 
they  should  judge  with  Him  the  tv/elve  tribes  of 
Israel.  ^ 

Thus  He  avoided  giving  a  scandal  to  the  world 
that  was  easy  to  foresee.  In  allowing  Himself  to 
be  helped,  or  rather  served,  by  men  of  powerful 
intelligence  and  speech ,  might  He  not  have  given 
a  pretext  for  the  objection  so  often  repeated,  in 
spite  of  all  good  sense  and  of  all  real  knowledge  of 
history,  —  according  to  which  the  transformation 
of  the  vv^orld  is  the  work,  partially  at  least,  of 
philosophers  and  contemporary  politicians?  Seneca 
and  Marcus  Aurelius  have  too  great  a  share  of  the 
admiration  which  the  adversaries  of  Christianity 
more  or  less  sincerely  bestow,  for  us  to  mistake  the 
position  that  incredulity  would  have  taken  against 
Him,  had  His  fellow-labourers  been  men  of  learn- 
ing and  distinction.  It.  was  fitting  that  He  should 
appear  in  all  the  majesty  of  His  grandeur  and  His 
power,  —  and  draw  from  those  vanquished  by  His 
mercy  the  avowal  that  He  had  chosen  the  weak  to 
confound  the  wise  of  this  world. ^  Twelve  un- 
known men,  mark,  have  sufficed  for  Him  to  con- 
quer the  universe,  and  there  establish  His  authority 

^     Id.,  XXII,  30:  "And  may  sit  upon  thrones,  judging 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel." 
2     I.  Cor.,  1,  27. 


358  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

for  all   time.     But   from   whence   has   He  chosen 
these  twelve  men? 

Naturally,  it  suited  Him  to  select  them  from 
the  people  of  Israel,  that  is,  from  the  only  nation 
that  had  preserved  intact  the  deposit  of  primitive 
and  Mosaic  revelation.  Wishing,  moreover,  to 
choose  disciples  from  this  nation,  before  preaching 
to  the  Gentiles,  He  took  those  interpreters  to 
whom  the  Jews  could  listen  without  prejudice  and 
without  hostility.  Jewish  exclusiveness  would 
have  created  against  the  first  efforts  of  the  Gospel, 
an  obstacle  which  seemed  to  Him  imprudent  to 
place  in  their  way.  We  may  also  take  into  account 
with  good  reason,  the  love  of  Jesus  for  His  ter- 
restial  coimtry  and  for  its  citizens,  even  with  a 
preference  for  those  who  lived  with  Him  in  Galilee, 
around  Nazareth  or  on  the  shores  of  the  lake  of 
Tiberias.  It  was  there,  in  fact,  that  He  called 
them.  But  His  first  elect  were  not  chosen  on 
account  of  their  close  proximity  ^  or  their  near 
relationship,^  still  less  for  their  already  existing 
friendship;^  He  affected  even,  one  would  say,  to 
call  them  when  they  were  absent  from  Galilee,  far 
from  Nazareth  and  Bethsaida,  as  if  He  feared  the 
semblance  of  yielding  to  influences  that  were  too 
natural.     The   Gospel    states   clearly   the   circum- 

1  Andrew  and  Peter  were  not  from  Nazareth,  but  from 
Tiberias. 

2  James  the  Greater  and  John  the  Evangelist  were  His 
cousins,  but  one  degree  further  removed  than  James  the  Less, 
Jude,  and  Simon. 

3  None  of  them  seem  to  have  known  Him  before  being 
called. 


thp:  friendships  of  jesus.  359 

stances  of  this  first  calling,  and  leaves  no  donbt  as 
to  its  character. 

Three  months  after  His  baptism,  Jesus  stood 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  lost  am.ong  the 
crowd  that  pressed  around  the  Precursor.  John 
perceived  Him  and  j^ointed  Him  out  to  his  fol- 
lowers, crying:  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  He 
who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  v/orld!"  ^  Per- 
haps he  had  just  expounded  to  the  people  the 
passage  of  Isaias  :  "He  was  offered  because  it  was 
His  own  will,  and  He  opened  not  His  mouth:  He 
shall  be  led  as  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter,  and  shall 
be  dumb  as  a  lamb  before  his  shearer."  ^  We  may 
readily  believe  it,  when  v/e  remember  that  the  real 
mission  of  John  the  Baptist  was  to  announce  the 
Ivlessiah  and  to  prepare  His  ways.  How  was  it 
possible  to  resist  the  desire  to  point  Him  out 
openly,  at  the  moment  when  He  deigned  to  show 
Himself  so  prominently?  —  "There,"  he  con- 
tinued; "is  He  of  whom  I  have  said,  'After  me 
Cometh  a  man  who  is  preferred  before  me,  because 
He  was  before  m.e.  And  I  knew  Him  not:  but 
that  He  may  be  m.ade  manifest  in  Israel,  therefore 
I  am  come,  baptising  in  Vv^ater.'  "  ^ 

The  emotion  produced  on  the  crowd  by  this 
revelation  had  no  immediate  results,  because  Jesus 
had  merely  appeared  ;  His  hour  had  not  yet  come. 
Tlie  following  day,  John  was  conversing  with 
some  disciples,  when  Jesus  again  stood  near  them. 

1  John,  I,  29-31. 

2  Isai.,  LIII,  7. 

3  Johu,  I,  30-32. 


360  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

At  sight  of  Him,  transported  into  a  kind  of  ecstasy, 
the  Baptist  repeated,  but  with  an  accent  more  full 
of  meaning:  ''Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  !"  ^  Two 
of  the  listeners,  Andrew  and  John,  Galilean  fislier- 
men  from  the  western  bank  of  the  lake,  touched 
by  this  persistence  in  designating  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah,  drew  near  to  Him  with  respect,  and 
having  saluted  Him,  waited  till  He  should  deign 
to  question  them.  "What  seek  you?"  He  said  to 
them.  —  "Master,  where  dwellest  Thou?"  — 
"Come  and  see."  And  He  shov/ed  them  the  way 
to  the  hut,  or  the  tent  that  served  Him  for  a 
dwelling,  follovN^ing  the  custom  of  pilgrims  on  the 
shores  of  the  Jordan.  It  was  about  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  and  the  new  friends  remained 
together  until  sunset.^  "When  night  came,  the 
two  disciples  were  gained  over  to  Jesus:  they  had 
recognised  Him  to  be  the  prophet  greater  than 
Moses,  He  whom  Israel  had  desiderated  for  so 
many  centuries."  ^ 

Andrew  and  John  had  not  come  alone  to  hear 
the  Baptist  preach  ;  they  were  accompanied  by 
their  brothers  Simon  and  James,  and  they  at  once 
undertook  to  convert  these  to  Jesus.  "We  have 
found  the  Messiah,"  said  Andrew  to  Simon,  v/ho 
surrendered  at  once.  "Thou  art  Simon,  son  of 
Jonas,  henceforth  thou  shalt  be  called  Cephas." 
Mysterious  words,   the  prophetic  sense  of  which 

1  John,  I,  36. 

2  John,  I,  39:  "And  they  stayed  with  Him  that  day: 
now  it  was  about  the  tenth  hour." 

3  Fouard  :  Vie  de  N.-S.  J.-C,  c.  IV. 


THE  FRIKKDSI-IIPS  OF  JESUS.  36 1 

the  future  was  to  disclose!  "Thou  art  the  child 
of  a  dove,  that  is,  of  a  being  weak  and  without 
power  of  resistance;  but  thou  slialt  become  the 
son  of  might,  immovable  as  the  rock,  by  which 
name  thou  shaft  be  called."  ^  Thus  Jesus  already 
gave  proof  of  His  authority  over  His  disciples,  by 
changing  the  name  of  the  greatest  among  them, 
following  the  example  of  the  Rabbis,  to  v/hom 
they  themselves  had  compared  Hini.^  John  having 
likewdse  brought  his  brother  James  to  Him,  He 
gave  them  the  surname  of  "sons  of  thunder," 
either  from  foreknowledge  of  their  distinguished 
apostolate,  or  on  account  of  the  daring  and  im- 
petuous disposition  which  He  discovered  in  theni.^ 
A  fifth  Galilean,  Philip,  who  w^as  also  from  Beth- 
saida,  and  lived  perhaps  with  the  other  four,  was 
met  on  the  following  day  by  the  Master,  as  He 
was  about  to  depart.  "Follow  Me,"  Jesus  simply 
said,  and  with  the  same  simplicity  Philip  followed 
Him,^  after  which  the  little  band  left  the  shores  of 
the  Jordan,  and  went  through  the  mountain-passes 
of  Ephraim. 

In  the  course  of  their  travels,  as  they  drew  near 
Cana,   Philip   perceived  one   of    his  friends  under 

-  John,  I,  42:  "Tu  es  Simou,  filius  Joua,  tu  vocaberis 
Cephas." 

2  Andrew  and  John  had  saluted  Him  by  the  title  of 
Rabbi.     (John,  I,  38.) 

2  Mark,  III,  17:  "And  He  named  them  Boanerges,  which 
is.  The  Sons  of  Thunder." 

4  John,  I,  44:  "Now  Philip  was  of  Bethsaida,  the  city  of 
Andrew  and  Peter." 

^    John,  I,  43:   "Dicit  ei  Jesus  :  Sequere  Me." 


362  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

a  fig-tree,  Nathaniel  Bar-TolmaiV  a  learned  2  and 
great  ^  personage,  towards  wliom  lie  rushed  to 
communicate  the  wonderful  news:  ''We  have  found 
Him  whom  Moses  and  the  prophets  foretold  !  He 
is  Jesus,  son  of  Joseph  of  Nazareth."  At  the 
mention  of  Nazareth,  Bar-Tolmai  shook  his  head: 
"Can  anything  good  come  out  of  Nazareth  ?'' he 
murmured,  looking  at  Philip  who  merely  replied: 
"Come  and  see  for  thyself."  Bar-Tolmai  was  an 
upright  soul;  he  had  no  opposition  to  make  to 
Philip's  proposal,  and  went  with  him  towards 
Jesus.  The  Master  smiled  as  he  approached: 
"Behold,"  said  He,  "an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom 
there  is  no  guile!"  —  Surprised  at  this  greeting, 
in  which  he  discerned  a  sort  of  revelation,  Nathan- 
iel asked  Him:  "Whence  knowest  Thou  me?"  — 
Jesus  answered,  "Before  Philip  saw  thee  and 
called  thee,  I  saw  thee  under  the  fig-tree."  — 
"Master,"  exclaimed  Nathaniel,  "Thou  art  the 
Son  of  God,  the  King  of  Israel !"  The  words  of 
Jesus  contained  an  allusion  which  remains  inex- 
plicable to  us,  but  to  which  Bar-Tolmai  had  the 
clue.  Seized  with  astonishment  and  perhaps  vntli 
fear,  the  nev/  disciple  could  hardly  repress  a  cry 
that  revealed  the  trouble  of  his  soul.  "Thou 
believest,"  replied  Jesus,  "because  I  said  I  sav/ 
thee    under   the    fig-tree:    thou    shalt    see    greater 

1  Tradition  identifies  Nathaniel  with  Bartholomew, 
according  to  John,  XXI,  2  —  where  Nathaniel  is  numbered 
among  the  Apostles  gathered  together,  with  Peter,  on  the 
shores  of  the  lake  of  Tiberias. 

2  S.  August.,  Injoafin.,  I. 

3  S.  Hieron.,  Epist.  ad  Eustochium. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  363 

things  tli?ai  tliese.  Amen,  amen,  I  say  to  you, 
you  shall  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Angels 
of  God  ascending  and  descending  upon  the  Son  of 
man."  ^ 

Behold,  then,  six  chosen  Apostles.  Four  of 
them  are  fishermen  from  Bethsaida;  another,  born 
in  the  same  town,  appears  to  have  a  different 
occupation;  the  last,  an  inhabitant  of  Cana  and  a 
friend  of  Philip,  belonged  to  the  learned  class  of 
his  country.  There  is  no  fellow-citizen  of  Jesus 
among  them  :  two  only,  James  and  John,  belong 
to  His  family  through  their  mother,  a  niece  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  and  the  wife  of  Zebedee.  If  w^e 
may  rely  on  the  tradition  regarding  them,  all  were 
markedly  different  in  age,  temperament  and  ante- 
cedents. James  and  John  are  evidently  younger 
than  the  Master ;  Andrew  and  Peter  are  almost 
His  own  age;  Philip  and  Bartholomev/  are  older. 
Peter  alone  we  know  is  married,  perhaps  a  widower; 
since  the  Gospel,  while  speaking  of  his  mother-in- 
law,  says  nothing  of  his  wife.  James  and  John 
are  free,  according  to  the  tradition  which  identifies 
the  latter  with  the  bridegroom  of  the  wedding  to 
which  the  apostolic  band  were  going.  ^ 

Cana  ^  v/as  preparing  the  nuptial  feasts  for  the 

1  John,  I,  45-51. 

2  This  very  ancient  tradition  which  is  brought  to  our 
notice  in  the  Visions  of  Catherine  Emmerich,  is  not  improb- 
able, as  we  shall  see  later  on. 

Now  called  Kefr-Kenna,  a  little  village  one  league  to 
the  north  of  Nazareth,  and  which  should  not  be  confounded 
wit  Kana-el-Jalil  or  Kourbet-Kana,  situated  further  off  to  the 
northeast.     (Cf.  Thomson,  The  Land  and  the  Book.) 


364  ^HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

humble  people  wlio  Avere  friends,  if  not  relations, 
of  Mary,  and  who  liad  also  invited  Jesus.  The 
companions  of  the  Master  were  included  in  the 
invitation,  and  sat  with  Him  at  the  banquet, 
modest  like  the  fortune  of  those  who  gave  it.  It 
seems  that  Mary  presided  at  table,  at  the  head  of 
the  women  of  the  family  and  the  neighbourhood, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  country.  She  soon 
noticed  the  insufficient  provision  of  wine,  which 
was  exhausted  sooner  than  had  been  expected, 
owing  to  the  influx  of  guests  on  whom  they  had 
not  at  first  counted.^  Confident  in  the  omni^^otent 
charity  of  her  Son,  she  approached  Him  and  said 
in  a  low  voice:  "They  have  no  more  wine."  — 
"Woman,  what  is  that  to  Me  or  to  thee?  My  hour 
is  not  yet  come."  Instantly  reassured,  Mary  went 
back  to  the  servants  who  had  followed  her  with 
their  eyes,  and  said  to  them:  "Whatsoever  He 
shall  say  to  you,  do  ye."  Almost  immediately 
the  Master  made  them  a  sign.  They  gathered 
around  Him,  and  by  His  order  filled  six  large  urns, 
destined  for  the  ablutions,  with  water,  each  con- 
taining from  two  to  three  measures,  that  is  to  say 
from  forty  to  sixty  litres.^  Then  Jesus  said, 
addressing  the  person  among  the  guests  who  per- 
fiormQd  the  function  of  Architriclinus,  or  master  of 

1  Such  is  the  suggestion  in  the  Codex  Rhedigenarius 
(VII.  century)  which  gives  a  different  reading  to  the  Italian 
version:  "Et  factum  est  per  multam  turbam  vocatorum  viuum 
consummari." 

2  The  Greek  measure  was  equivalent  to  27  litres ;  the 
Roman  to  19  litres,  others  say  to  38.  We  follow  the  approx- 
imate quantity  which  assigns  19  or  20. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  365 

the  table:  "Draw  out  now,  and  carry  to  the  chief 
steward  of  the  feast."  Coiiforiiiiiig  to  the  rules  of 
his  office,  this  latter  tasted  the  liquor  before 
presenting  it  to  the  guests.  Scarcely  had  his  lips 
touched  the  cup  than  he  expressed  his  astonish- 
ment. They  had  brought  him  a  wine,  the  exist- 
ence of  which  he  had  not  suspected,  and  he  turned 
with  a  smile  to  the  bridegroom  and  said  :  "Every 
man  at  first  setteth  forth  good  wine;  and  when 
men  have  well  drank,  then  that  which  is  worse: 
but  thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine  until  now." 
The  bridegroom,  more  confused  than  surprised, 
understood  nothing  of  this  pleasantry,  which  sud- 
denly revealed  the  shortcomings  of  his  hospitality. 
He  questioned  the  looks  of  the  servants,  who  were 
reduced  to  silence  by  their  ov/n  satisfaction.  Mary 
no  doubt  solved  the  enigma,  and  the  joyous 
gratitude  of  all  these  poor  people  must  have  been 
the  best  recompense  to  the  Master  for  His  gener- 
osity, had  He  not  felt  that  faith  was  strengthened 
in  the  heart  of  the  disciples,  who  were  witness  to 
the  first  manifestation  of  His  glory. ^ 

Amongst  the  number  of  invited  guests  we  may 
include  the  sister,  or  sister-in-lav/,  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  Mary  Cleophas,^  with  her  sons  James, 
Jude,  and  Simon.  Did  the  miracle  cause  those 
who  in  the  vernacular  were  called  His  l)rothers,  to 
rally  immediately  round  Jesus?    The  silence  of  the 

1  Johu  II,  1-11. 

2  Or  Mary,  wife  of  Cleophas,  Slie  was  older  than  Mary, 
it  would  seem  ;  this  does  not  coincide  with  the  opinion  which 
makes  her  the  sister  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  —  V.  book  I, 
c.  III. 


366  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JKSUS. 

Gospel  prevents  our  answering  with  certainty;  but 
it  is  very  probable  that  they  did  so,  and  that  He 
was  obliged  to  give  them  a  place  among  His  dis- 
ciples, with  whom  He  went  down  from  Cana  to 
Capharnaum.  The  Master  did  not  make  any  stay 
at  Nazareth,  if  He  even  returned  there.  Hence- 
forth any  sojourn  in  this  town  w^as  to  become  less 
and  less  agreeable  to  Him,  by  reason  of  the  resist- 
ance He  encountered  from  His  compatriots,  already 
renowned  for  their  obstinacy  and  rudeness.  Peter, 
no  doubt,  urged  Him  to  return  to  Capharnaum, 
where  his  mother-in-law's  house  offered  the  divine 
traveller  a  hospitality  that  was,  if  not  princely, 
cordial ;  for  the  fisherman,  having  as  his  sole 
possessions  but  his  boat  and  his  nets,  lived  in  those 
humble  circumstances  which  are  the  ordinary  lot 
of  his  fellows.  Nevertheless,  Jesus  was  pleased  to 
dwell  in  this  town  to  v;hich  He  so  often  returned, 
which  the  Gospel  calls  His  own  city, ^  which  He 
desired  so  ardently  might  submit  to  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  which  ended  by  meriting  an  anathema.^ 
It  did  not  owe  this  preference  to  the  charm  of  its 
unrivalled  situation  betv/een  the  hills  and  the  lake, 
facing  the  majestic  summits  tliat  bound  its  horizon 
above  the  waves  and  extended  along  the  opposite 
shore;  it  was  rather  to  the  affection  He  bore  His 
first  disciples,  to  the  sacrifice  that  they  made  of  all 
that  filled  their  hearts,  to  the  pledges  which  they 
gave    Him    of    their    fidelity    and    their    zeal,    in 

1  Matth,,  IX,  1 :  "Venit  in  civitateni  suant.'^ 

2  Id.,  XI,  23:   "Aud  thou,  Capharnaum  ....  thou  shalt 
9:0  down  even  unto  hell." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  367 

presence  of  these  waves  and  these  mountains. 
Jesus,  like  ourselves,  loved  to  revisit  the  witnesses 
of  His  most  genuine  pleasures,  and  the  sadness 
which  sometimes  concealed  its  loveliness  did  not 
altogether  efface  it  in  His  eyes,  just  as  the  light 
mists  veil,  without  altogether  extinguishing,  the 
brightness  of  the  sun  on  the  waters  of  Genezareth. 

Jesus  did  not,  how^ever,  make  Capharnauni  His 
habitual  abode,  until  He  had  been  banished  from 
Nazareth  by  His  ov/n  fellow-citizens,  and  it  was 
then  that  He  definitely  called  the  first  four  of  His 
disciples  to  follow  Him.  Up  to  this  time  they  had 
folio v/ed  Him  without  any  irrevocable  bond  of 
partnership,  receiving  His  teachings  and  dissem- 
inating them,  baptising  even,  after  the  example  of 
John's  disciples,^  then  returning  to  their  ordinary 
occupations,'^  with  the  consent  of  their  Master  and 
ready  to  come  back  to  Him  again  whenever  He 
might  so  command.  Did  Philip,  Bartholomew, 
and  the  sons  of  Alpheus  follow  their  example? 
We  cannot  say,  although  w^e  have  the  right  to  sup- 
pose in  these  a  greater  independence  and  con- 
sequently a  more  constant  assiduity  in  the  Master's 
service.  This  is,  however,  a  mere  gratuitous 
supposition,  not  warranted  by  the  Gospel  narrative,, 
and  of  which  the  reader  must  judge  for  himself. 

One  day,  when  Jesus,  after  His  expulsion  from 
Nazareth,  was  walking  on  the  shores  of  the  lake. 
He  saw  Peter  and  Andrew  rowing  tov/ards  the 
bank,   after  a  night  of  fruitless  toil.      "Come  after 

1  John,  IV,  2. 

2  Matth.,  IV,  18;  —  Mark,  I,  16 ;  —  Luke,  V,  2. 


368  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Me/'  He  said  to  them,  "and  I  will  make  you 
become  fishers  of  men.''^  Forthwith  they  came 
to  the  shore  and  were  preparing  to  draw  their  boat 
upon  the  beach  when  Jesus,  hemmed  in  by  the 
multitude  that  gathered  from  all  parts,  went  into 
Peter's  boat  and  asked  him  to  draw  out  a  little 
from  the  land.  Thus,  having  free  space,  He 
seated  Himself  and  began  to  speak  to  the  people; 
then,  having  dismissed  them,  He  ordered  the  two 
brothers  to  launch  out  into  the  deep  and  cast  their 
nets: —  "Master,"  replied  Simon,  "we  have 
labonred  all  the  night  and  have  taken  nothing; 
but  at  Thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net."  Mar- 
vellously rewarded  confidence!  The  capture  was 
so  ereat  that  their  streno-th  was  not  suf^cient  to 
draw  it  to  the  land,  and  they  were  obliged  to  call 
assistance.  Another  boat  was  on  the  waters  at 
some  distance,  manned  by  the  sons  of  Zebedee  and 
their  sailors.  It  came  to  their  aid  and  shared  in 
the  labour  and  profit,  and  like  its  companion  it 
was  filled  even  to  sinking,  so  abundant  was  the 
draught  of  fish.  Beholding  this  miracle,  Simon 
threw  himself  at  the  Master's  feet,  saying:  "Depart 
from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord."  Andrew, 
James,  and  John  were  equally  surprised.  But 
Jesus  hastened  to  reassure  them  by  His  reply  to 
Simon.  "Fear  not:  from  henceforth  thou  shalt  be 
taking  men."  ^ 

The  boats  were  pulled  to  shore:  Jesus  dis- 
embarked,   accompanied    by    the    disciples,    who 

i  Matth.,  IV,  19:  "Venite  post  Me  et  faciam  vos  fieri 
piscatores  hominum." 

2    Luke,  V,  1-11. 


the;  friendships  of  jksus.  369 

abandoned  all  to  follow  Him,  obeying  His  words: 
"Come  after  Me,  and  I  will  make  you  become 
fishers  of  men."  ^  Zebedee  remained  with  his  men 
to  guard  the  boats,  while  awaiting  the  time  when 
he  himself  should  follow  the  Prophet,  as  we  learn 
from  tradition.  But  the  hour  of  grace  had  not  yet 
struck  for  him,  and  moreover,  as  we  see,  he  had 
not  been  included  in  the  call  addressed  to  his  sons. 
From  this  time,  the  elect  of  Bethsaida  do  not 
appear  to  have  returned  to  their  country,  except  in 
company  with  their  Master,  to  whom  they  had 
surrendered  themselves.  Philip  and  Bartholomew 
soon  rejoined  them,  if  indeed  they  had  ever  ceased 
to  accompany  Jesus,  and  the  end  of  the  first  year 
of  His  public  ministry  saw  Him  surrounded  by 
all  those  whom  He  should  consecrate  by  the  title 
of  Apostles. 

Towards  the  end  of  this  year  He  had  met  at 
the  office  of  the  toll-collectors  of  Capharnaum,  a 
publican  named  lycvi,  a  son  of  Alpheus,^  whom 
He  had  asked  to  follow  Him,  and  who  had  at  once 
obeyed.  This  conversion  had  given  scandal,  tlie 
more  so  that  lycvi  (or  Matthew,^  as  he  wast  hence- 
forth called),  was  eager  to  gather  his  friends 
together  to  celebrate  a  feast  in  Vv^hich  Jesus  deigned 
to  take  part.  The  Pharisees  had  taken  occasion 
therefrom  to  point  out  to  their  disciples  the  scorn 
of  the  Nazarean  for  rabbinical  traditions,  to  which 

1  Matth.,  IV,  22 ;  —  Mark.  I,  19-20. 

2  Mark,  II,  14:  *'Vidit  Levi  Alphaei." 

3  Matthew,  according  to  Gesenius  is,  like  Matthias,  a 
contraction  of  Mattai,  and  signifies  "gift  of  God"  (6e65w|Oos). 


370  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

Jesus  had  replied:  "They  that  are  in  health  need 
not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick.  Go  then, 
and  learn  what  this  meaneth  :  I  v/ill  have  mercy, 
and  not  sacrifice.  For  I  am  not  come  to  call  the 
just,  but  sinners."  ^ 

Another  conquest  made  at  Capharnaum  was 
that  of  Judas, ^  better  known  by  the  name  of 
Thomas  or  the  twin,^  which  is  generally  given  to 
distinguish  him  from  Jude-Thaddeus  and  Judas 
Iscariot.  According  to  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  he 
was  a  native  of  Antioch,  owed  his  surname  to  his 
twin-sister  Lydia,  and  attached  himself  to  the 
family  of  the  Saviour/  While  he  never  had  any 
prominent  part  in  the  preaching  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  he  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  among 
the  Apostles,  because  of  his  devotion  to  the 
Master,  his  reluctance  to  believe  in  His  resurrec- 
tion, and  the  marvellous  fact  that  gave  him  proof 
of  it.  Tradition  points  him  out  at  the  tomb  of 
Mary,  as  still  incredulous,  and  nevertheless  still  as 
mercifully  privileged:  his  heart  was  doubtless 
stronger  than  the  caprices  of  his  mind. 

The  last  called  was,  without  our  knowing 
under  what  circumstances,  a  Jew  of  the  name  of 
Judas,  son  of  Simon  the  Iscariot.^  Ivong  discus- 
sions have  been  instituted  on  the  origin  of  this 
surname,   which  has   passed   from   father  to   son; 

1  Matth.,  IX,  9-13. 

2  Eusebius,  Hist,  eccles.,  I,  13. 

2    John,  XI,  16:  "Thomas,  qui  dicitur  Didymus." 
■  4    Patr.  A  post.,  p.  272  and  512. 
^    John,  XIII,  2:  "Judas  Simouis  Iscariotae." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  37 1 

assumed  by  some  to  be  derived  from  Kerioth,  his 
native  place, ^  but  which  others  would  derive  from 
the  leather  belt  worn  by  the  perfidious  Apostle. 
These  dissertations  are  surely  worthless,  when 
they  concern  the  man  whose  very  name  we  would 
ignore,  sharing  the  sentiment  of  Saint  John 
Chrysostom.^  Judas  joined  the  disciples  either  on 
the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  or  after  meeting  Jesus  in 
the  course  of  His  miuistry  in  the  south  of  Pales- 
tine.^ His  assiduity  and  zeal  soon  brought  him 
into  prominence,  and  he  won  the  confidence  of  his 
companions;  with  the  exception  of  John,  how- 
ever, whose  eyes  soon  penetrated  the  depth  of  this 
base  and  mercenary  soul.*  Jesus  seemed  to  notice 
nothing,  and  perhaps,  indeed,  Judas  in  the  begin- 
ning spent  days  truly  worthy  of  his  vocation, 
before  those  which  the  Evangelist  devotes  to 
horror  and  scorn. 

The  formation  of  the  chosen  disciples  was  con- 
tinued from  that  time  without  interruption,  by  the 
teachings  given  to  them  in  common  with  ordinary 
audiences,  and  especially  by  those  that  they 
received  in  intimacy  during  those  hours  of  over- 
flowing confidence,  when  the  Master  opened  His 
heart  to  them,  —  not  as  to  servants,  but  as  to 
friends.^     For  He  indeed  treated  them  as  friends, 

1  Keriot  or  Kerioth  is  mentioned  by  Joshua,  XV,  25.  — 
Kvvald  says  that  Judas  was  born  at  Karta,  a  small  village  of 
the  tribe  of  Zabulon  ;  but  this  opinion  is  opposed  by  the 
greater  number  of  commentators. 

2  S.  John  Chrysost.,  Homil.  de prodit.  Judae. 

3  Mark,  III,  19. 

4  John,  XII,  6. 

5  John,  XV,  15. 


372  THE  FRIKNDSPIIPS  OF  JESUS. 

associatiiio:  tlieiii  in  all  His  tliouo^lits,  in  all  His 
plans,  and  in  all  His  labours.  The  mystery  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  hidden  to  others,  was  revealed  to 
them  ^  gradually,  by  a  patient  initiation  which 
tired  not  of  their  slowness  to  understand  or  believe: 
and,  what  is  still  better,  the  heart  of  the  Master, 
ever  expanding  more  fully,  infused  itself  into  their 
hearts,  penetrating  them  with  that  all-powerful 
sweetness^  at  which  Saint  Paul  was  afterwards  to 
marvel,  and  which  is  the  special  characteristic  of 
divine  operations.  True  children  of  Eternal  Wis- 
dom, nourished  by  turns  with  the  milk  and  the 
wine  which  It  pours  into  souls,  in  proportion  to 
their  progressing  strength,  they  approached  the 
day  when  they  should  hear  the  words:  "You  are 
the  salt  of  the  earth  and  the  light  of  the  world. ' '  ^ 
But  there  was  due  to  them  a  further  consecration, 
v/hich  separated  them  absolutely  from  the  rest  of 
the  disciples,  and  made  them  fellow- workers 
pledged  to  the  Master  in  preaching  and  the 
ministry  of  souls.  They  received  it  in  the  course 
of  the  second  year,  after  that  species  of  novitiate 
which  they  had  made  while  preacliing  and  baptis- 
ing, under  the  v^^atchful  care  and  guidance  of 
Jesus,  without  a  mission  which  should  remove 
them  from  Him  and  leave  them  to  their  own 
initiative.      "The  eagle  still  bore  its  young  upon 

1  Matth.,  XIII,  11 ;  —  Mark,  IV,  11 ;  —  Luke,  VIII,  10. 

2  Sap.,    VIII,    1:     "Ad    finem   fortiter    dispouit   omnia 
suaviter." 

3  Matt.,  V,  13-15:  "Vos  estis  sal  terrae  ....  Vos  estis 
lux  mundi." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  373 

its  wings,  teaching  tlieni  to  fly,"  ^  without  how- 
ever committing  them  to  space  where  they  might 
be  dashed  to  pieces. 

Their  propitious  hour  struck  during  a  mission 
in  Galilee,  where  miracles  were  multiplied  before 
their  eyes,^  and  the  number  of  proselytes,  Jews, 
Galileans,  Syrians,  and  Idumeans  was  marvel- 
lously increased.^  John  the  Baptist  was  in  prison 
and  his  disciples  had  dispersed :  the  Pharisees 
approached  the  Herodians  to  treat  of  Jesus  Him- 
self and  His  followers.  The  future,  so  fraught 
with  evil  forebodings,  seemed  to  demand  a  more 
complete  organisation  of  the  forces  that  Truth 
itself  la.unclied  for  the  conquest  of  souls.  L^ike  a 
skilful  commander,  Jesus  at  once  formed  the 
groundwork  of  His  army,  by  creating  the  Apostolic 
College.  On  the  morrow  of  a  night  spent  in 
prayer  *  on  the  hill  of  Kourn-Hattin,^  between 
Capharnaum  and  Tiberias,  He  gathered  the  dis- 
ciples around  Him,  and  chose  from  among  them 
twelve  of  His  oldest  companions,  to  v/hom  He 
gave  the  name  of  Apostles  or  Messengers.^  This 
number  of  tv/elve  ansv/ered  apparently  to  that  of 

1  Deuter,  XXXII,  11 :  ''Sicut  aqnila  provocans  ad  volan- 
dnm  pullos  suos,  etc." 

2  Matth.,  IV,  23-35 ;  —  Mark,  III,  7 ;  —  Iviike,  VI,  17-19. 

3  Mark,  111,7-8:  *'From  Galilee  and  Judea,  and  from 
Jerusalem,  and  from  Idumea,  and  from  bej^ond  the  Jordan : 
and  they  about  Tyre  and  vSidon." 

"^    Luke,  VI,  12. 

^  Called  also  the  Mountain  of  the  Beatitudes  by  the 
Christians. 

6  Ivuke,  VI,  13:  "Vocavit  discipiilos  suo3  et  elegit  duo- 
decitn  ex  ipsis  (quos  ct  apostolos  nominavit). 


374  "^HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

the  tribes  of  Israel/  —  who  were  the  figure  of  the 
new  people  of  God,  marching  under  the  patronage 
of  their  twelve  patriarchs,  to  seek  the  true  Promised 
lyand  of  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem.  Without  paus- 
ing to  discuss  the  numerous  reasons  that  Mystics 
have  assigned  for  this  number  (dear  to  the  Apostles 
themselves,  as  was  apparent  by  the  election  of 
Matthias  after  the  betrayal  of  Judas),  we  only  sub- 
mit here  a  grouping  the  more  worthy  of  attention 
that  it  is  the  same  in  the  Gospels  and  in  the 
Acts.2 

The  twelve  are  divided  into  three  groups,  with 
a  kind  of  hierarchy  which  supposes  three  chiefs, 
to  use  the  sacred  expression.  The  first,  over  which 
Peter  presided,  is  composed  of  Andrew  and  the 
sons  of  Zebedee,  James  and  John.  The  second, 
which  has  Philip  for  its  director,  is  constituted  of 
Bartholomew,  Matthew,  and  Thomas.  The  third, 
under  the  leadership  of  James,  brother  of  the  Lord, 
is  formed  of  the  two  sons  of  Alpheus  and  of  the 
traitor  Judas.  The  Synoptics  are  in  perfect  accord 
regarding  the  designation  of  the  heads  of  the 
column :  the  order  of  the  secondary  nominations 
varies  a  little,  according  to  motives  that  are  easy 
to  construe.  Thus  Andrew  is  named  the  first  in 
Matthew  and  Ivuke,  while  he  is  last  in  Mark,  on 
whom  his  and  Peter's  humility  has  imposed  this 
arrangement.  In  the  second  list,  Matthew  is 
placed  in  the  first  rank,  which  Thomas  occupies 
in  the  two  other  Gospels.     In  the   third   series, 

1  Corn.  A  Lapide,  i7i  Matth. 

2  Act.  Apost.,  I,  13. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  375 

Luke  places  before  Jude,  Simon,  whom  he  desig- 
nates by  the  flattering  epithet  of  Zealot,  substituted 
for  the  less  sympathetic  title  of  Cananean,  pre- 
ferred by  Mark  and  Matthew.  The  third  Gospel 
and  the  Acts,^  though  they  come  from  the  same 
pen,  do  not  follow  the  same  order  of  secondary 
classification,  which  seems  therefore  to  be  of  minor 
importance;  while  the  perfect  accord  of  the  sacred 
writers  in  the  names  of  the  chiefs  of  each  group, 
indicates  a  preference,  the  reason  for  which  we 
must  seek  in  the  actual  will  of  Jesus.  Despairing 
of  ever  penetrating  a  secret  of  which  the  Evan- 
gelists offer  no  explanation,  we  content  ourselves 
with  portraying  the  most  striking  characteristics 
of  the  first  princes  of  the  Church,  associated  by 
Himself  in  the  kingdom  of  Jesus-Christ  in  souls. 

Peter,  and  Andrew  his  brother,  were,  as  we 
have  already  said,  natives  of  Tiberias,  and  sup- 
ported themselves  by  fishing  in  the  waters  of  the 
lake  of  Genezareth.  Peter  had  married  a  woman 
of  Capharnaum,  and  tradition  tells  us  that  of  her 
was  born  a  daughter  of  whom  the  Gospel  does  not 
speak.  Andrew,  in  the  beginning  a  disciple  of 
John  the  Baptist,  became  the  first  disciple  of  Jesus, 
and  performed  the  first  act  of  proselytism  in  bring- 
ing Peter  to  the  Messiah.  He  was  not,  however, 
called  to  the  primacy,  though  the  Master  always 
showed  him  an  affection  that  is  easily  perceived  in 
the  Gospels,^    and  which  the   Church    has   com- 


1  Cf.  Ivuke,  VI,  14-16,  and  Act.  Apost.,  loc.  cit. 

2  Mark,  XIII,  3 ;  —  John,  XII,  22  etc. 


376  THE  FRIENDSHIPS.  OF  JESUS. 

memorated   by  the   celebrated   words,    "the   lyord 
loved  Andrew."  ^ 

James  and  John,  sons  of  Zebedee,  —  who  had 
married  Salome,  the  niece  of  the  Blessed  Virgin — 
were  also  fishermen  from  Bethsaida,  like  Peter  and 
Andrew.  They  lived  in  comfortable  circumstances, 
which  the  Gospel  recalls  in  speaking  of  the  hired 
men  employed  in  their  boat,^  and  John  seems  to 
have  maintained  relations  with  the  High  Priests, 
to  whose  dwellings  he  had  easy  access.^  Sur- 
named  Sons  of  TJmnder,  they  justified  their  name 
by  the  impetuosity  of  their  character,  the  zeal  of 
their  faith,  and  the  splendour  of  their  apostolate. 
Jesus  held  them  in  particular  affection,  and  associ- 
ated them  with  Himself  in  the  most  remarkable 
circumstances  of  His  life.  But  we  cannot  dismiss 
them  with  this  brief  sketch,  and  we  shall  encounter 
them  again,  in  a  study  less  unworthy  of  the  favour 
in  which  the  heart  of  the  divine  P'riend  held 
them. 

Philip,  the  chief  of  the  second  apostolic  group, 
merited  this  distinction  by  the  date  of  his  voca- 
tion, and  the  zeal  which  he  had  shown  from  the 
very  beginning.  Born  at  Bethsaida,  he  was  mar- 
ried there,  and  had  two  daughters  born  to  him, 
who    had    consecrated   their   virginity    to    God.* 

1  "Dominus  dilexit  Audream"  (Offic,  S.  Andreae,  ad 
XXX  Nov.) 

2  Mark,  I,  20:  "In  the  ship  with  his  hired  men." 

2  John,  XIII,  15:  "And  that  disciple  was  known  to  the 
high  priest." 

■^  Ensebius,  Hist  eccl.y  cit  Pol5xrates,  Bishop  of  Ephe- 
sus.     Some  v/riters  hold  that  this  is  a  confusion  between  the 


TIIK  FRiENDSklPS  OP^  JESUS.  2)77 

Becoming  a  disciple  of  the  Precursor,  he  had  not 
hesitated  to  follow  the  Messiah  and  to  bring  to 
Him  Bartholomew  his  friend,  and  perhaps  his 
brother,  as  some  have  thought,^  but  their  opinion 
is  not  sufficiently  convincing.  Of  simple  disposi- 
tion, a  little  slow  of  comprehension,  but  positive 
and  practical,  he  seems  to  have  possessed  tlie 
Master's  confidence  in  organising  apostolic  pil- 
grimages and  establishing  communication  v/ith 
strangers.^  His  name,  of  Hellenic  form,  has 
given  rise  to  the  supposition  that  he  had  relations 
with  tliose  Greeks  who  addressed  him  in  the 
Temple,  in  order  to  gain  admittance  to  Jesus. 
But  this  is,  perhaps,  merely  a  conjecture:  Greek 
and  Roman  names  could  not  have  been  uncommon 
in  Palestine,  since  the  conquest  of  Alexander  and 
during  the  protectorate  of  Caesar. 

Bartholomew,  who  is  generally  identified  with 
Nathaniel,  was  from  Cana,  of  noble  birth  and 
learned  in  the  science  of  the  Scriptures.  Upright 
and  thoughtful,  perhaps  of  somewhat  rough  ex- 
terior, but  profoundly  religious,^  his  worth  is 
sufficiently  established  by  the  Master's  testimony: 
"Behold  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  vv'hom  there  is  ivo 
guile!" " 

Thomas  is  well  known  to  us  by  the  generous 

Apostle  and  the  deacou  of  the  same  name,  who  had  four 
daughters  who  were  prophetesses.     (Acts,  XXI,  9.) 

1  Donaldson,  (Jashar,  p.  9)  ap.  Smith  Dictionary^  Y 
Fhilipp. 

2  John,  VI,  5-9  ;  —  XII,  20-23. 

3  I,e  Camus,  Vic  de  N.-S.  Jesus-Christ. 
^    John,  1,47. 


378  THE  FPaENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

words  —  "Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may  die  with 
Him,"^  which  he  spoke  to  the  Apostles  when 
Jesus  proposed  to  re-enter  Judea  after  His  excom- 
munication, and  almost  on  the  eve  of  the  betrayal 
of  Judas.  Ardent  soul,  who  knew  better  how  to 
love  than  to  reason,  prone  to  weakness  but  quick 
in  overcoming  it,  Thomas  maintains  in  history  a 
character  that  excites  our  sympathy,  in  spite  of 
the  incredulity  of  which  he  is  the  popular  type, 
but  which  he  redeemed  by  a  confession  of  faith  at 
once  prompt  and  beautiful.^ 

The  name  that  closes  the  second  series  is  that 
of  Matthev/,  otherwise  called  Levi,  son  of  Al- 
pheus.^  At  the  time  of  his  vocation,  he  was 
employed  in  one  of  the  offices  for  the  collection  of 
the  tribute  to  Caesar.  Being  a  Galilean  by  resi- 
dence if  not  by  birth,  and  certainly  an  Israelite, 
his  profession  rendered  him  doubly  odious  in  the 
eyes  of  his  compatriots,  who  deemed  that  he  had 
renounced  his  country  and  his  God  in  submitting 
him.self  to  the  service  of  Caesar.  Even  the  bene- 
volence of  the  Master  towards  him  was  a  source  of 
scandal  to  them,  while  it  filled  him  witb  jo}^, 
courage,  and  zeal.  The  other  Evangelists  pass 
over  his  occupation  as  publican  in  silence,  but  his 
ov/n  humility  draws  attention  to  it,*  as  being  the 
name  by  which  the  inhabitants  of  Capharnaum 
knew  bim.^     The  sacred  texts  are  not  concerned 

1  Id.,  XI,  16. 

2  John,  XX,  24-29. 

3  Mark,  II,  14:  '*I,evi  Alphaei." 

4  Matth.,  X,  3:  "Matthaeus  publicanus." 

^  The  other  Evangelists  designate  the  publican  by  the 
name  of  lyevi.     (Mark,  II,  14 ;  —  Luke,  V,  27.) 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  379 

with  liim  after  liis  conversion,  and  his  life  is 
mingled  with  that  of  his  brethren  in  the  apostolate; 
bnt  there  came  a  day  of  distinction  for  him  by  the 
inspiration  which  dictated  the  first  Gospel.  Before 
leaving  Palestine  to  evangelise  the  tribes  on  the 
shores  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  Matthew 
wrote  in  Hebrew  the  divine  words  ''ra  \6yia^'  —to 
borrow  the  expression  of  Papias.^  He  soon  after- 
w^ards  translated  it  into  Greek  himself,  which  text 
alone  has  been  preserved,  and  from  which  our 
Vulgate  is  taken. ^  In  a  short  time  his  book  was 
circulated  among  the  faithful,  both  in  the  East 
and  West,  and  after  eighteen  centuries  it  is  still 
the  source  from  which  souls  desirous  of  tasting  the 
water  that  springeth  up  into  everlasting  life,^  — 
the  teachings  of  the  Incarnate  Word,  — may  draw 
with  delight.  He  is  symbolically  represented  as 
a  man  with  the  wings  of  an  angel,  because  he  is 
especially  the  Evangelist  of  the  Humanity^  of 
Jesus-Christ,  whose  geneology  forms  the  beginning 
of  his  book. 

The  third  series  is  placed  under  the  patronage 
of  James,  the  son  of  Alpheus,  whose  surname  Less, 
or  Little,  applies  either  to  his  small  stature  or  to 
his  vocation,  which  came  later  than  that  of  his 
nephew,  the  son  of  Zebedee.  Remaining  in  ob- 
scurity during  the  whole  of  the  Master's  life,  he 
emerged  therefrom  after  Pentecost,  when,  having 


1  According  to  Eusebius,  Hist,  eccles..  Ill,  39. 

2  S.  Jerome  (De  vir.  illust.,  c.  3),  regarded  the  uame  of 
the  translator  as  uncertain.  The  question  appears  to  have 
been  decided  in  the  manner  we  have  stated. 

3  John,  IV,  14. 


380  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

become  the  first  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  and  an  object 
of  veneration  even  to  the  Jews  themselves/  he 
was  the  soul  of  the  first  council,^  the  defender  of 
Paul,^  the  oracle  of  the  '^twelve  tribes  dispersed 
throughout  the  world,"  ^  before  rendering  testi- 
mony by  his  martyrdom  to  the  divinity  of  the 
Incarnate  Word.  This  brother  of  the  Lord^  had 
had  great  difficulty  in  recognising  the  Messiah  in 
the  person  of  the  Child  whose  birth  he  remem- 
bered, whose  youthful  years  he  had  protected, 
and  whose  first  manifestation  at  Cana  he  had 
admired  but  did  not  understand.  Like  his  brothers 
Simon  and  Jude,  he  had  remained  in  doubt  long 
after  he  was  called,*^  in  consequence  perhaps 
of  the  mysterious  design  by  wdiich  the  revelation 
of  the  Most-High  was  prohibited  to  flesh  and 
blood.7 

Jude  had  shared  his  resistance  as  he  had  shared 
liis  faith,  his  zeal,  and  his  ministry.  The  Kpistle 
that  he  has  bequeathed  to  us  is  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  niou'Liments  of  the  apostolic  doctrine. 
The  surname  of  Thaddeus  which  lie  bears  in  the 
two  first  Gospels,^  and  which  signifies  the  man  of 

1  Eusebius,  HisL  eccles.,  II,  23. 

2  Act.  Apost.,  XV,  13-21. 

3  Act.  Apost.,  XV,  1-31 ;  —  Galat.,  I,  19. 

^  EpivSt.  Jacob.,  I,  1:  ''Jacobus  ....  duodecim  tribubiis 
quae  sunt  in  dispersione  salutem." 

^    Galat.,  I,  19;  "Jacobum  fratrem  Domini." 

G  Joliii,  VII,  5:  ''Neither  did  His  brethren  believe  in 
Him." 

7  Matth.,  XVI,  17:  '■'Because  flesh  and  blood  hath  net 
revealed  it  to  thee,  but  My  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

s    Matth,,  X,  3  ;  —  Mark,  III,  18. 


TIIK  FRIENDSHIPS  01^  JESUS.  381 

Jieartj  is  singularly  applicable  to  liim,  as  the  title 
of  Zealot  is  to  his  brother  Simon.  Both  of  them 
were  filled  with  a  great  zeal  for  the  Law,  and  it 
would  appear  that  his  intense  love  of  country  had 
even  induced  Simon  to  join  one  of  those  Galilean 
societies  which  had  been  established  for  the  pre- 
servation of  national  tradition,  and  the  restoration 
of  Jewish  independence.  In  this  manner,  at  least, 
commentators  have  interpreted  his  two  surnames 
—  the  Zealot  1  and  the  Cananean.''^  Jude  possessed 
the  same  impetuosity  of  character  and  feeling,  but 
nothing  points  to  his  having  initiated  his  brother 
in  the  choice  of  means  by  which  he  hoped  to 
accomplish  the  salvation  of  Israel. 

It  would  be  too  much  to  draw  the  reader's 
attention  even  once  to  the  name  of  the  Iscariot,  if 
it  did  not  recall  the  ineffable  mercy  which  sought 
to  move  his  treacherous  heart  when  he  saluted  his 
Master  in  Gethsemani.  Never  was  speech  more 
heart-rending  than  this:  "Friend,  whereto  art 
thou  come?"  ^  Sold  for  a  few  pence  and  betrayed 
by  a  kiss,  Jesus  could  not  but  resolve,  we  would 
say,  to  cast  aside  this  son  of  perdition.*  How 
must  He  have  loved  His  Apostles,  who,  under  such 
circumstances,  loved  even  the  Apostle  who  betrayed 
Him!  Shall  it  be  given  to  us,  even  in  Heaven,  to 
see  the  depths  of  this  abyss  of  tenderness,  and  to 

1  I^uke,  VI,  15. 

2  Mattb.,  X,  4  ;  —  Mark,  III,  18,  —of  Kanna,  "zealous." 

3  Matth.,  XXVI,  50:   "Amice,  ad  quid  venisti?" 
'^  John,  XVII,  12.   "Filius  perditionis." 


382  'The:  friendships  of  jksus. 

understand  to   what  measure   this   folly  of  divine 
love  for  man,  has  attained?  ^ 

After  having  thus  chosen  them,  Jesus  gave 
them  power  over  evil  spirits,  that  they  might  cure 
all  diseases  and  infirmities.  Then  He  said  to 
them:  — "Going,  preach,  saying.  The  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  is  at  hand,  Heal  the  sick,  raise  the 
dead,  cleanse  the  lepers,  cast  out  devils:  gratis  you 
have  received,  gratis  give.  Do  not  possess  gold, 
nor  silver,  nor  money  in  your  purses,  nor  scrip  for 
your  journe}',  nor  two  coats,  nor  shoes,  nor  a  staff; 
for  the  workman  is  worthy  of  liis  meat.  And  into 
whatsoever  city  or  town  you  shall  enter,  enquire 
who  in  it  is  worthy:  and  there  abide  till  you  go 
thence.  And  v/hen  you  come  into  a  house,  salute 
it,  saying:  Peace  be  to  this  house.  And  if  that 
house  be  worthy,  your  peace  shall  come  upon  it; 
but  if  it  be  not  worthy,  your  peace  shall  return  to 
you.  And  v/hosoever  shall  not  receive  you,  nor 
hear  your  v/ords,  going  forth  out  of  that  house, 
or  city,  shake  off  the  dust  from  your  feet.  Amen 
I  say  to  you,  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
than  for  that  city.  —  He  that  receiveth  you, 
receiveth  Me:  and  he  that  receiveth  Me,  receiveth 
Him  that  sent  Me."^  .^e  give  extracts  from  this 
beautiful  discourse,  merely  to  show  the  connection 
established  by  the  Master  between  Himself  and 
those  whom  He  sent  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 

1  I.  Cor.,  I,  23:  "To  the  Jews  a  stumbling  block,  and  to 
the  gentiles  foolishness." 

2  Matth.,X,  5-42. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  383 

from  whom  He  had  received  His  mission.  The 
ministry  of  the  Apostles  has  then  a  divine  char- 
acter, which  constitntes  them,  in  the  Father's 
eyes,  co-heirs  with  Jesus-Christ,^  and  enables  the 
Son  of  God  to  call  them  His  friends,^  —  or,  to 
borrow  the  tender  appellation  which  He  Himself 
uses  —  His  little  children,^  the  first-born  of  His 
intelligence  and  His  heart. 

The  better  to  discern  this  fusion  of  souls,  we 
should  ponder  on  the  overflowing  tenderness  which 
followed  the  last  Supper,  when  the  participation 
in  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  Master  had,  so  to 
speak,  imparted  to  the  disciples  something  of  His 
own  divinity,  effaced  all  distance,  and  levelled 
every  obstacle  between  them  and  Him.  More 
fully  even  than  on  the  mountain  or  in  the  desert, 
within  the  solitude  of  the  supper-room.  He  poured, 
in  sweet  caressing  streams,  His  own  soul  into  that 
of  the  Apostles, — completing  the  revelation  of 
His  designs  and  the  formation  of  His  fellow- 
workers,  —  explaining  the  past  and  revealing  tlie 
future,  —  with  the  gentleness  of  a  mother  rather 
than  of  a  friend,  because  they  needed  at  once  both 
strength  and  consolation.  "If  anyone  love  Me,  he 
will  keep  My  word  —  And  the  Paraclete,  the  Holy 
Ghost,  wliom  the  Father  will  send  in  My  name. 
He  will  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things 
to  your  mind,  whatsoever  I  shall  have  said  to  you. 

^  Rom.,  VIII,  17:  **Andif  sons,  heirs  also;  heirs  indeed 
of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ." 

2  John,  XV,  15:  "I  have  called  370U  friends." 

3  "Filioli"  (Mark,  X,  24,  and  John,  XIII,  33). 


384  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Peace  I  leave  with  you,  My  peace  I  give  to  you: 
not  as  the  world  giveth,  do  I  give  to  you.  I-^et  not 
your  heart  be  troubled,  nor  let  it  be  afraid.  You 
have  heard  that  I  said  to  you:  I  go  away,  and  I 
come  again  to  you  —  As  the  Father  hath  loved  Me, 
I  also  have  loved  you.  Remain  in  My  love  —  I 
will  not  now  call  you  servants;  for  the  servant 
knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doeth.  But  I  have  called 
you  friends;  because  all  things  whatsoever  I  liave 
heard  from  My  Father,  I  have  made  known  to 
you.  You  have  not  chosen  Me,  but  I  have  chosen 
you,  and  have  appointed  you,  that  you  should  go, 
and  should  bring  forth  fruit,  and  your  fruit  should 
remain;  that  whatsoever  you  shall  ask  of  the 
Father  in  My  name.  He  may  give  it  you.  — 
Hitherto  you  have  not  asked  anything  in  My 
name:  ask,  and  you  sliall  receive,  that  your  joy 
may  be  full.  — And  I  say  not  to  you,  that  I  will 
ask  the  Father  for  you.  For  the  Father  Himself 
loveth  you,  because  you  have  loved  Me."  ^ 

And  the  Apostles  replied  with  delight:  "Behold, 
now  Thou  speakest  plainly,  and  speakest  no  j^ro- 
verb.  Now  we  know  that  Thou  knowest  all 
things,  and  that  for  Thee  it  is  not  needful  tha; 
any  man  ask  Thee:  in  this  we  believe  that  Thou 
camest  forth  from  God."  ^  A  tender  smile  lingered 
on  the  Master's  lips:  "Now  do  you  believe?"  He 
said,  "Behold,  the  hour  cometli,  and  is  now  come, 
that  you  shall  be  dispersed  every  man  to  his  own, 

1  John,  XIV,  23  and  following ;  —  XV,  9  and  follow- 
ing, etc. 

2  John,  XVI,  29-30. 


THE  FRiENDSIIIPvS  OI<^  JKSUS.  385 

and  shall  leave  Me  alone:  and  yet  I  am  not  alone, 
l3ecause  the  Father  is  with  Me.  These  things 
have  I  spoken  to  you  that  in  Me  you  may  have 
|)eace.  In  the  world  you  shall  have  distress;  but 
have  confidence,   I  have  overcome  the  world."  ^ 

A  few  hours  afterwards,  as  He  had  foretold, 
Jesus  was  alone :  the  Apostles  could  not  guard 
their  hearts  from  fear,  and  they  were  all  dispersed, 
v/ith  the  exception  of  Peter,  who  was  about  to 
deny  his  Friend.  Jolm  found  himself  alone  at  the 
foot  of  the  cross,  after  having  himself  taken  part 
in  the  flight  of  his  companions.  Was  it  then  that 
their  affection  \vas  not  sincere?  No:  but,  like  the 
greater  number  of  mxen,  their  nature  was  weak, 
and,  disconcerted  by  this  unforeseen  disaster,  they 
had  yielded  to  the  first  constraint  of  fear.  When 
the  divine  prisoner  ordered  the  armed  band  to 
allow  His  disciples  to  pass  unmolested,^  these, 
seized  with  panic,  fled  in  all  directions,  and  hid 
themselves  to  evade  the  enemies.  The  day  of 
Resurrection  found  them  together  again,  but  still 
alarmed,  and  so  confused  that  they  could  not 
believe  their  eyes  or  their  ears  in  the  very  presence 
of  the  Master,  triumphant  over  death.  However, 
their  joy  w^as  great ;  their  hearts  expanded  and 
their  lips  murmured  with  an  accent  at  once  full  of 
humility  and  confidence,  the  words  of  Peter: 
"Lord,  Thou  knowest  all  things:  Thou  knowest 
that  I  love  Thee ! "  ^     The  forty  succeeding  days 

1  John,  XVI,  31-33. 

2  John,  XVIII,  8:  "If,  therefore,  you  seek  Me,  let  these 
go  their  way." 

2  Id.,  XXI,  17:  "Domine,  in  onniia  nosti,  tu  scis  quia 
amo  te." 


386  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

restored  to  tliem  in  some  measure  the  familiarity 
of  the  past ;  then  the  Ascension  deprived  them  of 
it  for  ever,  without  in  any  way  lessening  their 
devotion,  which  Pentecost  exalted  even  to  heroism. 
The  Holy  Spirit,  whom  He  had  promised,  filled 
them  with  light  and  strength,  so  that  their  pent- 
up  energies  burst  forth  on  all  who  heard  them  — 
for  the  salvation  of  many,^  —  for  the  ruin  also  of 
some,  such  as  the  Chiefs  of  the  priests,  the 
Scribes,  and  the  Pharisees,  who  persisted  in  their 
error  and  hatred. 

Then,  twelve  years  passed  by,  during  which, 
persecuted  but  unshaken,  they  gave  its  form  and 
definite  constitution  to  the  Church,  in  the  very 
place  where  the  Synagogue  had  proscribed  the 
Redeemer.  The  time  at  length  came  when  they 
should  enlarge  their  sphere  of  action,  burst  the 
bonds  of  Jewish  prejudice,  and  invite  all  nations 
to  a  participation  in  tlie  Good  Tidings.  Gathered 
for  the  last  time  around  Peter,  who  had  been 
given  as  their  chief,  they  agreed  on  the  formulae 
of  the  Creed,  and  portioned  the  v/orld  among  them. 
James  the  I^ess,  consecrated  Bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
remained  in  Palestine  to  defend  the  faith  of  Jesus- 
Christ,  already  sealed  there  by  the  blood  of  James 
the  Greater.  Andrew  went  to  Scythia,  John  to 
Asia-Minor,  Bartholomew  and  Thomas  to  the 
Indies,  Jude  and  Simon  to  Armenia.  Matthew 
reached  Ethiopia.  Philip  took  the  road  to  Phrygia; 
Peter  that  to  Rome,  the  capital  of  the  world, 
where    he   should    establish    the    throne    of    the 

1    Act.  Apost.,  II,  41,  and  IV,  4. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  387 

supreme  Pontiffs.  The  last  year  of  the  century, 
which  saw  Christianity  spread  over  the  whole 
world,  found  no  more  than  two  of  its  first  pro- 
pagators in  existence.  All,  with  the  exception  of 
John  and  Simon,  slept  in  martyr's  tombs,  where 
the  love  of  Him  wliom  they  had  loved  so  much, 
had  laid  them.  It  was  not  long  before  Simon 
followed.  John  himself  had  paid  the  debt  of 
suffering  at  Rome,  before  the  Latin  Gate,  but 
miraculously  preserved  for  other  trials,  he  termin- 
ated his  long  career  at  Ephesus,  repeating  the 
words  of  the  Master:  *'My  little  children,  love  one 
another !  This  is  the  precept  of  the  Lord,  and  is 
sufficient  for  those  wh.o  would  understand  it. "  ^  By 
a  singular  destiny  the  elder  of  the  Sons  of  Thunder 
had,  first  among  the  Apostles,  witnessed  to  his 
faith  by  his  blood,  and  the  younger,  the  last  of  the 
Evangelists,  finished  in  the  Apocalypse  the  cycle 
of  the  Apostolic  teachings.^ 

Thus  were  justified  in  these  pre-eminent  friends 
of  the  Son  of  God,  the  words  that  He  spoke  to 
them  on  the  evening  of  Holy  Thursday:  "Greater 
love  than  this  no  mxan  hath,  that  a  man  lay  down 
his  life  for  his  friends."^  He  died  for  their  sal- 
vation: they  died  for  His  glory. 

1  S.  Hier.,  Comment,  in  Epist.  ad  Galatas,  III,  6. 

2  Saint  John  died  in  the  year  102,  sixty  eight  years  after 
the  Resurrection. 

3  John,  XV,  13:  "Majorem  hac  dilectionem  nemo  habet, 
ut  animam  suam  ponat  quis  pro  amicis  suis." 


Chapter  II. 
Saint    Peter., 

"He  saith  to  him  again:  Simon, 
sou  of  John,  lovest  thou  Me?  He 
saith  to  Him :  Yea,  Lord,  Thou 
knowest  that  I  love  Thee." 

John,  XXI,  18. 

If  all  the  Apostles  were  the  friends  of  Jesus,  all 
had  not  the  same  share  in  His  affection.  Their 
vocation,  though  similar  in  all,  did  not  necessarily 
imply  an  equality  of  merit,  nor  consequently,  an 
equal  participation  in  the  friendship  of  the  Master. 
With  the  exception  of  the  traitor  Judas,  none 
among  them  sold  his  devotion  nor  his  fidelity;  but 
they  did  not  all  manifest  the  same  spontaneity,  the 
same  ardour,  the  same  absolute  surrender  of  self. 
Different  in  temperament  and  character,  in  dis- 
position and  deportment,  each  had  in  the  eyes  of 
Jesus,  specially  distinguishing  features,  from  v/liich 
He  was  justiiied  in  choosing  at  will,  when  v/isdom 
and  justice  did  not  impose  a  preference.  He  loved 
them  all  with  unbounded  affection;  but  He  loved 
some  still  more,  whose  names  live  in  every  mem- 
ory, and  whom  we  must  study  apart  if  we  would 
understand  the  depths  of  His  love.  It  is,  in  fact, 
by  these  preferences  that  the,  heart  reveals  itself, 
and,  according  to  the  words  of  Scripture,  we  must 
seek  it  where  we  know  its  treasure  is.^     But  Peter 

1  Ivuke,  XII,  34 :  "For  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will 
your  heart  be  also." 

(388) 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  389 

is  always  given  the  first  place  by  the  Evangelists, 
and  we  find  the  reason  not  only  in  the  primacy 
which  made  him  head  of  the  Apostolic  College, 
but  also  in  the  evident  predilection  of  which  he  is 
the  object.  The  sons  of  Zebedee  shared  in  this 
predilection,  but  under  very  different  conditions, 
as  we  shall  see  v/hen  we  have  studied  the  part 
alloted  to  the  first  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ. 

From  the  time  that  John  the  Baptist  had  said 
to  them:  "Behold  the  I^amb  of  God,"  Andrew  and 
John  joined  the  Redeemer,  and  spent  the  day  on 
which  they  had  come  to  know  Him  in  His  com- 
pany. His  first  disciples,  they  were  also  the  fi^rst 
Apostles,  and  each  forthwith  brought  another  ad- 
herent to  the  kingdom  of  God,  The  Gospel,  whicli 
leaves  us  to  surmise  the  intervention  of  John  yjith 
his  brother  James,  affirms  that  of  Andrew  with  liis 
brother  also.  ""We  have  found  the  Messiah,"  he 
said  to  Simon,  and  at  once  proposed  to  bring  liini 
to  Jesus.  Simon  made  no  o]3jection  and  asked  for 
no  delay;  he  went  as  Andrew  had  gone,  — believ- 
ing in  the  word  of  his  brother  as  Andrew  had 
believed  in  the  word  of  the  Precursor.  Jesus 
looked  upon  him  and  said:  "Thou  art  Simon,  the 
Son  of  Jona:  thou  shalt  be  called  Cephas,  whicli  is 
interpreted  Peter,"  and  the  alliance  was  sealed  for 
ever  between  the  Son  of  God  and  him  who,  after 
the  Messiah,  should  become  the  universal  Pastor. ^ 

It  is  in  the  simplicity  of  these  incidents  that 
the  inspiration  of  the  Gospel  is  apparent;  the 
greatest   things   are   here   set   forth  with   so   little 

1    John,  I,  35-42. 


390  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

parade,  that  we  might  feel  inclined  to  be  aston- 
ished, did  we  not  know  that  divine  works  would 
but  be  disfigured  by  any  pomp  of  human  language. 
Thus,  nothing  more  could  be  said  of  the  first  meet- 
ing between  Jesus  and  Peter,  without  lessening  its 
charm  and  grandeur. 

The  man  who  came  in  this  way  to  join  the 
Messiah  was  born  at  Bethsaida,^  on  the  shores  of 
the  lake  of  Genezareth,  and  lived  at  Capharnaum^ 
with  his  brother  Andrew,  himself  also  a  fisherman. 
Their  station  in  life  was  extremely  humble,  if  we 
may  judge  by  the  care  which  the  Gospel  takes  to 
present  them  to  us  alone  in  their  boat,  v/hile  the 
crew  of  Zebedee  comprised,  in  addition  to  his  vSons, 
several  hired  sailors.^  They  belonged,  however, 
to  a  family  that  could  count  back  its  ancestors  to 
Simeon,  the  son  of  Jacob.*  Andrew  was  not 
married,  but  Peter  had  wedded  the  daughter  of  a 
certain  Aristobubulus,  whose  brother,  Barnabas, 
has  sometimes  been  confounded  with  the  apostle  of 
the  same  name.^  Metaphrastes  ^  calls  Perpetua  the 
wife  by  whom  Peter  had  two  children,  a  son  and  a 
daughter,  who  died,  as  did  their  mother,  before  his 
call  to  the  Apostolate.'^     Remaining  a  widower,  he 

1  John,  I,  44. — Now  El-Tabighali,  which  must  not  be 
confounded  with  Bethsaida-Julias,  situated  on  the  north  of 
the  lake,  in  Gaulanitis. 

2  Matth.,  VIII,  14;  —  Mark,  I,  29. 

3  Mark,  I,  20. 

^  Greek  MS.  of  the  Biblioth.  Nation,  cited  by  the  Bol- 
landists,  on  the  29.  June. 

s    Ibid.,  and  on  the  31.  May. 

«    Ap.  Sarins,  Vit.  SS.  —  Cf.  Giry,  Vie  des  Saints. 

'    Act.    SS.    loc.    cit.  —  Comment,   praevius.  —  These 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JE:SUS.  39 1 

had  continued  to  live  with  his  mother-in-law,  and, 
freed  from  all  interest  in  the  attractions  of  the 
world,  he  had  lent  a  willing  ear  to  the  preachings 
of  John  the  Baptist,  and  awaited  henceforth  the 
coming  of  the  Redeemer. 

He  was  a  little  younger  than  Jesus,  and  had 
scarcely  reached  his  thirtieth  year  when  they  met 
on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan.^  He  was  therefore  in 
the  full  vigour  of  life  and  complete  possession  of 
his  faculties,  rather  than  approaching  old  age,  as 
he  is  customarily  represented  to  us.  Of  quick  in- 
telligence and  generous  heart,  he  had  one  of  those 
ardent  temperaments  of  v/hich  a  sad  experience  of 
life  draws  out  the  full  force,  but  which  are  neces- 
sary to  all  difficult  and  beneficial  undertakings;  in 
the  hands  of  the  Master  he  should  become  a 
capable  instrument  for  the  accomplishment  of 
those  designs  w^hicli  he  so  quickly  understood,  and 
to  which  he  devoted  all  the  energy  of  his  nature. 
After  the  marriage  feast  of  Cana  he  returned  to 
Capharnaum,  and  during  the  intervals  between  the 
journeys  on  wdiich  Jesus  summoned  them,  he  con- 
tinued his  life  as  a  fisherman  on  the  waters  of  the 
lake,  with  Andrew  and  the  sons  of  Zebedee.  The 
Master  found  him  there  at  the  commencement  of 

children,  sometimes  called  Mark  and  Petronilla,  seem  to 
have  been  confounded  with  a  spiritual  son  and  daughter  of 
Saint  Peter.  The  legend  of  the  martyrdom  of  Perpetua,  who 
died  for  her  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  is  still  less  credible, 
although  very  ancient.  (V.  Gabourd,  Hist,  de  Saint  Pierre, 
eh.  XXIII.) 

1     Cf.  Acta  SS.,  loc.  cit. 


392  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OI^  JKvSUS. 

the  second  year  of  His  public  life,^  under  circum- 
stances wliicli  \VQ  have  already  described,  and 
attached  him  thenceforth  to  His  person  iu  a  very 
special  manner.  No  one  has  ever  questioned  the 
preference  in  which  he  was  held  from  the  first  day, 
and  which  was  aiSrmed  by  the  Master's  having 
chosen  his  boat,  from  v/hich  He  preached  to  the 
people;  ^  a  preference  so  much  the  more  remarkable 
that  Peter  was  not  the  first,  as  regards  time,  among 
the  disciples,  Audrey/  and  John  having  preceded 
him  in  their  submission  to  the  Messiah.  How- 
ever, he  had  been  welcomed  with  a  favour  of 
which  no  trace  is  visible  in  the  reception  given  to 
the  other  tv/o,  who,  though  destined  for  a  friend- 
ship of  choice,  had  no  prim.acy  conferred  on  them: 
he  was  already  designated  as  the  foundation  stone 
on  which  the  edifice  of  the  future  should  be  raised.^ 
We  do  not  find  anyvA^here  that  Jesus  oiiicially 
appointed  him  at  this  time  to  the  first  place,  but 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  Gospel  narrative  v/e 
feel  that  he  occupies  it,  with  the  consent  of  the 
other  Apostles,  none  of  whom  dreamt  of  contesting 
his  right  of  precedence.  I/Ong  before  his  official 
consecration  the  supremacy  of  Peter  was  an  accom- 
plished fact  for  his  colleagues  in  the  apostolate, 
and  in  the  government  of  souls. 

To  what  did  he  owe  it?    To  his  simplicity,  and 

^  In  the  spring  of  the  year  32,  aud  probably  iu  the  month 
of  March. 

^  Luke,  V,  3:  "And  going  up  into  one  of  the  ships,  that 
was  vSimon's  etc." 

•^  John,  1,  42:  "Thou  shalt  be  called  Cephas:  which  is 
interpreted  Peter." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  O?^  jKSUS.  393 

to  the  ardour  and  constancy  of  his  faith.  He  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  one  of  the  regular  dis- 
ciples of  Jolm  the  Baptist,  like  his  brother  An- 
drew, \Yho  lield  no  part  in  the  family  duties,  and 
who,  according  to  certain  Hagiographers,  had 
placed  himself  among  tlie  followers  of  tlie  Precur- 
sor. Tlierefore  he  liad  not  been,  like  Andrew  and 
John,  prepared  by  the  Baptist's  instructions  for  the 
knowledge  and  service  of  the  Messiah,  so  that  his 
adherence  was  particularly  spontaneous.  He 
awaited  tlie  1,'iberator,  believed  in  His  immediate 
coming,  trusted  the  word  of  Andrev/,  and  surren- 
dered himself  v/illingly  to  Him  whom  his  brother 
pointed  out.  In  so  doing  lie  obeyed  liis  generous 
and  loyal  nature,  his  eager  Galilean  aspirations  for 
the  restoration  of  Israel,  the  confidence  natural  to 
v/eary  hearts,  an.d  above  all,  the  belief  that  God 
miglit  have  fixed  upon  this  hour  for  the  realisation 
of  the  prophecies.  It  was  not  for  him,  he  con- 
sidered, to  question  whether  tlie  coming  of  the 
Messiah  was  opportune,  nor  to  refuse  to  verify  His 
advent.  He  went  then,  not  defiant  but  prudent, 
in  all  simplicity  and  goodwill,  on  the  word  of 
John  the  Baptist  and  Andrew,  where  the)^  told  him 
they  had  found  Christ  the  I^oid. 

God  reveals  Himself  to  such  upright  souls  at 
once,  if  not  in  the  fulness  of  knowledge,  at  least 
sufficiently  to  satisfy  tliem  and  to  bind  them  to 
Himself ;  it  was  thus  with  Simon.  From  the 
moment  he  stood  in  the  presence  of  Jesus  he  saw, 
so  to  speak,  the  heart  of  the  Master,  and  under- 
stood that  he  had  a  place  there;  but  at  the  same 


394  ""^HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

time  lie  had  an  immediate  perception  of  the  Mes- 
siah, superior  to  that  which  had  been  given  to 
Andrew  —  an  intuition  which  drew  from  him  the 
sublime  protestation;  "Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God."  This  cry,  which  he  should 
remember  a  long  time,  v/as  already  on  his  lips 
when  Jesus  found  him,  on  the  shores  of  the  lake, 
and  asked  him  to  cast  his  nets  again.  It  is  the 
meaning  of  his  words,  so  full  of  humble  faith: 
* 'Master,  we  have  laboured  all  the  night,  and  have 
taken  nothing :  but  at  Thy  word  I  will  let  down 
the  net."  It  is  also  the  meaning  of  the  words  that 
followed  the  miraculous  draught:  "Depart  from 
me;  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord."^  He  was 
the  first  of  the  disciples  who  had  recognised  that 
Jesus  was  more  than  man,  the  master  of  all  minds, 
the  lyord  to  whom  all  should  pay  homage,  the 
Holy  One  of  God  foretold  by  the  prophets,  the 
Redeemer  expected  by  Israel. 

After  his  definite  vocation,  Peter  could  not  but 
progress  in  faith,  and  by  faith  in  love.  For  the 
same  reason  he  should  advance  rapidly  in  the 
friendship  of  the  Master,  and  become  His  other  self 
in  universal  esteem,  and  in  the  propagation  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Henceforth  also,  we  see  him  in 
the  first  rank,  with  a  kind  of  official  consecration, 
even  before  the  declaration  at  Caesarea  wliich 
should  leave  no  doubt  as  to  his  future  primacy. 
When  the  Saviour  consented  to  enter  the  house  of 

1  I/uke,  V,  5  and  8:  ''Praeceptor,  per  totam  noctem 
laborantes,  nihil  cepimus  :  in  verbo  autem  tuo  laxabo  rete  .  . . 
Exi  a  me,  quia  homo  peccator  sum,  Domine." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  395 

Jaims  at  Caplianiaum,  to  raise  tlie  daiigliter  of  the 
prince  of  the  Synagogue  to  life,  He  took  with  Him 
Peter,  James,  and  John;  but  the  first  selected,  he 
who  followed  Him  closest,  was  Peter,  as  the  Gos- 
pel teaches  us  in  a  delightful  picture.  While  they 
were  going,  a  poor  woman,  lost  in  the  crowd  that 
pressed  about  Plini,  having  succeeded  in  touching 
the  mantle  of  Jesus,  He  said  at  once:  "Who  hath 
touched  my  garments?"  To  which  Peter  hastened 
to  reply:  "Thou  seest  the  multitude  thronging 
Thee,  and  sayest  Thou,  Who  hath  touched  Me?"  ^ 
Jesus  must  have  smiled  at  the  apostle's  reply,  in 
which  He  saw  a  proof  of  the  vigilance  of  Peter, 
and  perhaps  also  of  the  vexation  which  he  felt  at 
her  seeming  boldness.  For  the  ardour  of  Simon 
sometimes  led  to  a  secret  indignation  at  the  impor- 
tunities of  men,  and  the  difficulties,  present  or  to 
come,  that  beset  the  Master's  way. 

Thus,  when  Jesus  repeatedly  announced  His 
approaching  Passion  v^^hich  was  soon  to  be  followed 
by  His  Resurrection,  Peter,  thinking  only  of  the 
humiliation  and  death  of  his  divine  I^riend^  took 
Him  aside  and  said  to  Him  eagerly:  "Lord,  be  it 
far  from  Thee;  this  shall  not  be  unto  Thee."  — 
And  Jesus  replied  severely :  "Go  after  Me,  Satan, 
thou  art  a  scandal  unto  Me:  because  thou  dost  not 
relish  the  things  that  are  of  God,  but  the  things 
that  are  of  men."  '^  The  reproach  must  have  been 
doubly  severe  on  Peter,  since  it  immediately  fol- 
lowed the  promise  of  the  primacy  that  he  should 
exercise  in  the  Church, 

1  Mark,  V,  30-31 ;  —  Luke,  VIII,  45. 

2  Matth.,  21-23 ;  —  Mark,  VIII,  31-33. 


390  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF-  JKSU3, 

The  Master,  in  fact,  liacl  put  to  His  disciples 
tlie  celebrated  question:  '-Wliom  do  men  say  that 
the  Son  of  Man  is?"  And  the  Apostles  had 
replied:  "Some  sa}^  that  Thou  art  John  the  Bap- 
tist, and  otliers  Hlias;  and  others  Jeremias,  or  one 
of  the  prophets."  Jesus  said  to  them:  "But  whom 
do  you  say  that  I  am?"  Peter  immediately  an- 
swered in  the  name  of  all:  "Thou  art  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living^  God." — Then  Jesus  replied: 
"Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-Jona,  because  flesh 
and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee,  but  M}^ 
Father  who  is  in  heaven.  And  I  say  to  tliee,  that 
thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My 
cliurch;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.  And  I  will  give  to  thee  the  keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  And  whatsoever  thou  slialt 
bind  upon  eartli,  it  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven; 
and  vvhatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  upon  earth,  it 
shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven."  ^ 

This  happened  on  the  way  to  Cesarea  Philippi, 
on  the  shores  of  tlie  lake  of  Tiberias  which  had 
already  witnessed  the  apostle's  vocation,  and  where 
he  was  soon  to  be  confirmed  in  the  supreme  min- 
istry of  souls. 2  It  was  for  Peter  the  most  clierished 
spot  on  earth.  On  these  waters  he  had  taken  the 
miraculous  draught  that  typified  the  capture  of 
men  brought  to  tlie  shores  of  truth.  These  waves 
had  borne  the  barque  from  which  the  Saviour  had 
taught  the  mniltitude,  and  which  symbolised  the 
barque  of  the  Cluircli ;  the  apostle  had  taken  from 

1  Matth.,  XVI,  13-19. 

2  John,  XXI,  15-17. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OB^  JESUS.  397 

their  bosom  tlie  fish,  in  whrose  mouth  was  con- 
cealed the  mysterious  slater  tliat  was  destined  to 
pay  the  tribute  for  Christ  and  His  Vicar ;i  on  the 
bounding  billows  of  this  lake  the  Master  and  His 
disciple  liad  Avaiked,^  and  the  divine  word  had 
reduced  them  to  peace  at  the  appeal  of  Peter  and 
his  companions.^  But  this  shore  was  also  to  hear 
the  prophecy  of  the  martyrdom  by  which  the 
apostle  consummated  his  resemblance  to  the  Re- 
deemer,^ and  this  was  not  certainly  the  least  of  the 
many  blessings  which  it  saw  flowing  from  heaven 
into  the  heart  of  this  privileged  being. 

We  shall  not  follow  him  through  all  the  v/ays 
of  Palestine  that  he  traversed  with  such  courage 
during  the  remainder  of  the  apostolic  life  of  Jesus, 
—  always  in  the  first  place,  whether  in  the  joys  of 
Thabor^  or  the  sorrow\s  of  persecution,'^  having 
only  one  desire,  —  to  be  near  the  Master,  were  it 
but  to  go  v/ith  Him  to  prison,  or  even  to  death, ^ 
as  he  protested  on  the  evening  of  Holy  Thursday, 
with  a  persistence  which  bore  witness  to  his  ardour 
rather  than  to  his  prudence.  Certainly  he  was  not 
wanting  in  humility.  A  fevv^  moments  before,  he 
would  not  allow  Jesus  to  vvash  his  feet,  and  sub- 
mitted only  under  threat  that- otherwise  he  should 
have  no  part  wntli  Him  in  Heaven.^    But  this  most 

1  Matth.,  XVI,  23-26. 

2  Mattli.,  XIV,  24-32. 

3  Id.,  VIII.  23-26. 

4  Johu,  XXI,  18-K 

5  Matth.,  XVII,  1-8. 

6  John,  VI,  69,  and  40  etc. 

7  Matth.,  XXVI,  33-35 ;  —  Mark,  XIV,  29-31  eK. 

8  John,  XIII,  5-9. 


398  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

sincere  humility  did  not  prevent  his  believing 
himself  strong  enough  to  brave  all  the  perils  that 
his  love  might  involve.  The  sublime  ministry  for 
which  God  had  destined  him  exacted,  however,  in 
the  eyes  of  those  v/hom  he  should  guide,  a  ten- 
dency to  the  indulgence  which  brought  about  the 
hard  and  humiliating  lessons  of  the  following 
night. ^  Disconcerted  and  surprised,  Peter  denied 
his  Master  and  his  Friend,  not  that  he  had  ceased 
to  love  Him,  says  Saint  I^eo,  but  because  of  the 
trouble  into  which  his  imprudence  had  brought 
him  and  the  fear  consequent  upon  it.^  None  the 
less  had  he  learnt  to  his  cost  how  imperfect  is  the 
wisdom,  and  how  inadequate  the  courage  of  those 
who  are  not  fortified  by  divine  light  and  strength. 
Thus  "the  remembrance  of  his  fall  taught  him  to 
tem.per,  with  mercy  and  patience,  the  firmness  he 
should  display  in  administering  correction  to 
others."^  V/ho  knows  if  the  traditional  for- 
bearance of  the  Apostolic  See  —  what  is  some- 
times called  its  dilatoriness  —  may  not  be  traced 
back  to  Peter's  error,  to  the  lesson  that  he  drew 
from  it,  even  to  the  grace  that  redeemed  him? 

It  was  on  the  shores  of  the  lake  of  Genezareth 
that  this  reparation  took  place,  by  the  triple  pro- 
testation of  his  love,  and  the  triple  mission  that 
Jesus  gave  him  to  feed  the  lambs  and  sheep  of  His 
flock,  that  is,  the  faithful  and  their  pastors.     And 

1  Matth.,  XXVI,  69-75;  —  Mark,  XIV,  66-72;  —  I^uke, 
XXII,  55-62. 

2  S.  L/eon,  Serm.  de  Passione:  "Abundavit  fletus  ubi  7ion 
deficit  affectus :  et  fons  charitas  lavit  verba  formidinis. 

2    i^oais  YQvAlloi,  Jesus-Christ,  second  part,  c.  VIII. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  399 

in  order  to  seal  the  pardon  and  ratify  anew,  and 
more  strikingly,  the  resemblance  between  Him- 
self and  His  Vicar,  the  Master  predicted  his  death 
by  the  cross, — so  it  has  been  interpreted  by  the 
beloved  disciple  who  v^^itnessed  the  fact.^  Hence- 
forth there  could  be  no  possible  doubt  as  to  the 
supremacy  of  Peter,  which  was  confirmed,  so  to 
speak,  in  every  subsequent  act.  After  the  Ascen- 
sion, it  is  Peter  who  assembles  the  Apostolic  Col- 
lege, to  fill  the  place  forfeited  by  Judas. ^  It  is  he 
who,  on  the  morning  of  Pentecost,  is  the  first  to 
preach  the  Gospel  message,  overflowing  from  a 
soul  now  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  who 
gains  for  the  Church  the  first  proselytes  of  the  new 
era.^  It  is  he  who  gives  testimony,  in  the  name 
of  the  Apostles,  before  the  Sanhedrin,  to  which  he 
bids  defiance  in  his  7ion  possiimm,  that  has  since 
become  the  official  formula  of  Pontifical  resistance 
to  the  demands  of  error  and  evil.*  It  was  at  his  feet 
that  Ananias  and  Sapphira  fell  when  they  dared  to 
lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost  ;^  — to  him  the  revelation  is 
made,  at  Joppa,  which  determines  the  calling  of 
the  Gentiles  to  the  Gospel,  and  which  definitely 
sunders  the  ties  that  bind  tlie  Church  to  the  Syna- 
o-oo-ue.*^  He  excels  the  other  Apostles  even  in  the 
glory  of  a  miracle,  in  which,  however,  they  largely 

1  John,  XXI,  18-19. 

2  .Act.  Apost.,  I,  15  and  following. 

3  Id.,  II,  14-41. 

^     Id.     IV,   20:    ''Non   enhn  possumus  quae  vidimus  et 
audivimus  non  loqui." 

5  Id.,  V,  1-11. 

6  Act.  Apost.,  X,  10-17. 


400  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JKSUS. 

shared,  and  liis  passing  shadow  suffices  to  heal  the 
sick  on  whxom  it  falls. ^  Like  the  Master,  virtue 
v/ent  out  from  liiin,^  which  vivified  and  ennobled 
all  that  it  touched,  and  they  who  are  joined  to  him 
in  faith  are  assured  of  eternal  life.^ 

When  he  had  evangelised  Judea,  he  went  to 
Asia-Minor,  through  which  he  travelled  in  all 
directions,  as  is  shown  by  his  first  Epistle  addressed 
to  the  Christians  of  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia, 
Asia,*  and  Bithynia/  At  this  period  his  basis  of 
action  was  Antioch,  Avhere  he  had  fixed  his  See, 
according  to  tlie  constant  tradition  of  the  Church, 
and  where  he  lived  about  seven  years,  leaving  it 
only  at  the  demands  of  his  Apostolic  ministry,  and 
from  v/hence  lie  directed  the  v/orks  of  his  coad- 
jutors. Barnabas  was  soon  to  join  him,  with  Saul, 
the  murderer  of  Saint  Stephen,  whom  divine  grace 
had  thrown  prostrate  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  and 
whom  the  Twelve  had  admitted  into  the  Church, 
under  the  thrice-illustrious  name  of  Paul,  the 
Apostle  of  tlie  Nations.  It  v/as  then  that  the  dis- 
ciples at  Antioch  took,  or  received,  the  denomina- 
tion of  Cliristians,  wliich  shall  not  pass  away  for 
ever.^ 

1  Id.,  V,  15:  "That  when  Peter  came,  his  shadow  at  the 
least  might  overshadow  any  of  them." 

2  lyuke,  VI,  19  :  "Virtus  de  illo  exibat." 

3  John,  XI,  26 :  "And  everyone  that  liveth,  and  believeth 
in  Me,  shall  not  die  for  ever." 

^  That  is  to  say,  the  country  boardering  the  coast,  from 
the  Hellespont  to  the  Pamphylian  Sea  (Gulf  of  Adalia). 

5  Kpist.  Peter,  I,  1. 

6  Act.  Apost.,  XI,  26. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  4OI 

Returning  to  Jerusalem,  recalled  perhaps  by 
the  inevitable  fear  into  which  the  hatred  of  Herod- 
Agrippa  had  thrown  the  faithful,  he  arrived  there 
in  time  to  mourn  with  them  the  death  of  James  the 
Greater.^  and  soon  fell  himself  into  the  hands  of 
the  tyrant.  His  death  had  been  previously  re- 
solved upon;  no  trial  intervened,  and  his  execution 
was  merely  postponed  until  after  the  feast  of  the 
Pasch,  v/hich  was  at  hand.  Bound  by  chains  and 
guarded  by  four  quaternions  of  soldiers,  the  apostle 
was  shut  up  in  a  prison  secured  by  an  iron  door, 
before  which  a  picket  kept  watch.  Agrippa  be- 
lieved himself  quite  sure  of  his  prisoner,  and 
laughed  at  the  misery  of  the  Christians,  whose 
only  resource  was  in  prayer  for  their  chief.  But 
one  night,  when  Peter  slept  tranquilly,  awaiting 
his  execution, — happy  in  the  very  thought  that  he 
was  soon  to  rejoin  his  Master  in  glory,  —  an  angel 
entered  the  dungeon  and  filled  it  v/ith  his  splendour. 
He  awoke  Peter,  saying  :  '^ Arise  quickly,  gird  thy- 
self, and  put  on  thy  sandals ;  cast  thy  garment 
about  thee,  and  follow  me. ' '  The  chains  fell  off,  and 
the  apostle  followed,  as  one  in  a  dream,  the  divine 
messenger  before  whom  the  gates  opened,  while 
the  guards  remained  unconscious  of  what  was  pass- 
ing. At  the  end  of  the  first  street  the  angle  dis- 
appeared, and  Peter,  recovering  from  his  surprise, 
knocked  at  the  door  of  Mary's^  house,  where  many 
of  the  disciples  were  assembled  in  prayer.     A  ser- 

1  Act.  Apost,,  XII,  1-2. 

2  Mary,  the  Mother  of  John,  surnamed  Mark,  who  was 
later  on  the  companion  of  the  Apostles  Paul  and  Barnabas. 


402  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

vant  named  Rose^  came  to  see  who  had  knocked, 
and  frantic  with  joy,  forgot  to  open  the  door  till 
she  had  announced  the  glad  news.  No  one  v/ould 
believe  her,  until  at  length,  the  knocks  being 
redoubled,  they  opened  the  gate:  it  was  indeed  the 
Prince  of  the  Apostles,  who  told  them  to  warn 
James  the  I^ess,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  immedi- 
ately left  to  seek  a  safer  asylum.  Herod  sent  a 
band  in  pursuit,  but  not  being  able  to  recapture 
him,  he  ordered  the  sentinels  who  had  allowed  him 
to  escape  to  be  put  to  death;  then  Herod  hastily 
left  Judea  for  Cesarea,  where  he  was  soon  to  perish 
by  a  death  as  painful  as  it  was  humiliating,  after 
a  last  act  of  foolish  impiety.^ 

The  Apostles  were  then  allowed  a  moment's 
respite,  during  which  the  faith  was  spread  anew. 
However,  the  Jews  resented  the  admission  into  the 
Church  of  those  neophytes  who  were  not  obliged 
to  conform  to  the  I^aw  of  Moses.  Some  among 
them  who  had  belonged  to  the  Pharisees,  even 
demanded  the  circumcision  of  the  new  converts. 
It  became  then  necessary  to  examine  into  this 
question,  and  the  Apostles  assembled  with  the  An- 
cients, under  the  presidency  of  Peter.^  After 
making  known  the  results  achieved  by  Paul  and 
Barnabas  among  the  Gentiles,  James  the  Less 
spoke,  and  plainly  demanded  that  the  neophytes 
should  be  left  in  peace.  His  advice  was  accepted 
by  his  colleagues,  and  the  Ancients,  who  made  it 

1  "Rhode,  P6577." 

2  Act.  Apost.,  XII,  1-24. 
8    Act.  Apost.,  XV,  7. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  403 

known  to  the  Church,  using  for  the  first  time  the 
formula  henceforth  adopted  in  the  councils:  "It 
hath  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us."  ^ 
Peace  and  joy  thus  took  possession  of  all  souls, 
and  the  kingdom  of  God  was  extended  with  even 
greater  rapidity,  if  not  among  the  disciples  of 
Moses,  at  least  among  the  children  of  the  Gentiles. 
But  the  lull  did  not  last  long,  and  it  was  deemed 
necessary  that  the  apostles  should  disperse.  After 
having  formulated  the  Creed, ^  the  Twelve,  guided 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  divided  the  world  among  them, 
and  set  out  in  quest  of  souls,  to  every  quarter  of 
the  globe!  Peter  went  to  Rome,  accompanied  by 
Mark,  who  was  to  write  the  second  Gospel  —  by 
Appolinaris,  who  became  Bishop  of  Ravenna  — 
by  Martial,  the  Apostle  of  Aquitaine  —  and  by 
Rufus,  the  founder  of  the  See  of  Capua.  Tradition 
tells  us  that  he  came  to  Sicily,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Naples  still  revere  the  place  where  he  celebrated 
the  sacred  mysteries.  The  voyage  was  made  by 
easy  stages,  according  to  Eusebius  and  Saint 
Jerome,  who  state  that  Peter  entered  Rome  in  the 
year  44,  the  second  of  the  reign  of  Claudius.^  He 
was,  then,  absent  from  Palestine  for  two  years, 
and  while  travelling  preached  all  along  his  way.* 

^  Act.  Apost.,  XV,  28:  "Visum  est  enim  Spiritui  sancto 
et  nobis." 

-  Rufiu,  Comment,  in  Symbol.  2.  (^Patrol,  lat.y  t.  XXI.) 
—  S.  Ambrose,  Serm.  XXXVIII.  —  Cf.  Fouard,  Saint  Pierre, 
c.  XIII,  etc. 

2  The  28.  January,  according  to  tradition.  —  It  is  the  day 
on  which  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome  is  commemorated. 

^  According  to  the  generally  accepted  opinion,  which  fixes 
the  martyrdom  of  James  the  Greater  in  the  year  42,  at  the  latest. 


404  "THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

His  first  sojourn  at  Rome  was  not  of  long  duration, 
Claudius  having  expelled,  in  the  year  52,  all  the 
Jews,  to  whatsoever  religion  they  belonged.  Having 
hidden  for  some  time  in  the  catacombs  of  the 
Ostrian  cemetery,  Peter  returned  to  Palestine, 
whence  he  again  set  out  for  Italy  after  the  acces- 
sion of  Nero.  Metaphrastes  traces  him  this  time 
through  Egypt  and  Africa,  hastening  on  the  way, 
because  he  was  eager  to  confront  that  formidable 
enemy  of  the  Christian  Name  —  Simon  Majus, 
who  had  been  recently  summoned  to  Rome  by  the 
new  Caesar.^  Perhaps  he  also  desired  to  visit  his 
disciple  Mark,  who  was  then  preaching  to  the 
Alexandrians;  and  also  those  whom  he  had  sent, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  Saint  Cyprian,  to 
Mauritania  and  Numidia.  However  that  may  be, 
on  his  return  to  Rome  in  the  year  54,  he  found 
there,  Simon,  whose  arts  had  so  profoundly  puzzled 
the  Ancients,  and  whom  it  is  necessary  we  should 
know  better,  without  in  any  way  attaching  undue 
importance  to  him. 

Majus  was  a  Samaritan,  but  by  adoption  only, 
for  Josephus  says  he  was  of  the  tribe  of  lycvi,  and 
came  originally  from  Cyprus.^  He  had  great  in- 
fluence among  his  fellow-citizens,  owing  to  his 
deceptions  and  the  mysterious  assertions  regarding 
his  nature  and  his  birth,  which  he  affirmed  to  be 
superhuman.     He  had  been  baptised  at  the  time  of 

^  Cf.  S.  Hieron.,  De  viris  illustribus.  —  The  holy  Doctor 
differs  here  from  Metaphrastes,  in  supposing  that  Simon  was 
already  in  Rome  at  the  time  of  Claudius. 

2  According  to  S.  Justin  (Apol.,  I,  29),  he  came  from 
Gitta,  a  village  at  the  borders  of  Samaria. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  4O5 

Philip  the  Deacon's  preaching,  and  when  the 
Apostles  Peter  and  John  came  to  confirm  the  neo- 
phytes, he  was  astounded  at  the  miracles  wrought 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Comparing 
these  wonders  with  the  sorceries  by  which  he  had 
blinded  Samaria,  he  could  not  remain  long  in 
doubt  as  to  their  superiority.  From  this  con- 
viction, to  the  desire  of  possessing  the  power  to 
bring  down  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  there  was  but 
one  step,  quickly  surmounted  by  the  ambition  of 
the  false  neophyte,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  offer 
money  to  the  Apostles,  to  pay  for  the  honour  of  the 
priesthood.  Peter  replied  with  indignation:  "May 
thy  money  perish  with  thee,  because  thou  hast 
esteemed  the  gift  of  God  to  be  purchased  with 
money.  Thou  hast  no  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter; 
for  thy  heart  is  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God.  Do 
penance,  therefore,  for  this  thy  wickedness,  and 
pray  to  God,  that  perhaps  this  thought  of  thy 
heart  may  be  forgiven  thee.  For  I  see  thou  art  in 
the  gall  of  bitterness,  and  in  the  bonds  of  iniquity." 
Terrified  by  this  anathema,  Simon  appeared  to 
repent  and  supplicated  the  apostle  to  pray  that  he 
might  not  be  overtaken  by  divine  vengeance.^  But 
his  conversion  did  not  last  long.  He  took  once 
more  the  name  that  had  been  formerly  given  him 
—  the  Great  Poiver  of  God,  —  recommenced  to 
preach  his  agnostic  doctrine,  in  which  he  had 
borrowed  the  elements  of  the  school  of  Dositheus; 
and  ended  in  representing  to  the  neighbou.ring 
people  of  Tyre,  where  he  had  taken  refuge,  a 
1     Act.  Apost.,  VIII,  9-24. 


4o6  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

courtesan  named  Helen,  as  the  Ennoia^  or  the 
eternal  thought  of  God,  banished  to  earth  and 
degraded  in  its  union  with  human  nature,  of 
which  he  himself  was  the  Redeemer.^  He  claimed 
to  have  been  announced  as  such  by  the  oracle  of 
Moses:  ''The  Lord  thy  God  will  raise  up  to  thee 
a  Prophet  of  thy  nation  and  of  thy  brethren  like 
unto  me:  him  thou  shalt  hear."^  He 'was  the 
Messiah,  and  had  completed  the  revelation  of 
supernatural  truth  as  well  as  the  regeneration  of 
souls. ^  —  If  our  modern  agnostics  did  not  seek  to 
revive  these  absurdities,  it  might  be  considered 
impossible  that  they  could  ever  have  been  popular.* 
But  they  exercise  a  considerable  ascendancy  over 
those  minds  that  are  seduced  by  this  mixture  of 
mysticism  and  sensuality,  which  still  holds  such 
powerful  sway  over  misguided  souls. 

Simon  at  length  came  to  Rome,  attracted  by 
the  favour  shown  by  Nero  towards  magicians  and 
the  magic  arts,  perhaps  even  sent  for  by  him.  His 
reputation  there  was  soon  of  such  consideration 
that  a  statue  was  erected  in  his  honour,  and  there 
were  not  wanting  those  who  regarded  him  as  a 
divinity.^"*  But  on  Peter's  arrival  the  aspect  of 
things  was  changed.  "The  fame  of  the  imj^oster 
was  at  once  extinguished;  his  power  was  paralysed, 

1  Cf.  Philosopkumeiia,  V,  98. 

2  Deuter,  XVIII,  15, 

3  S.  Irenaeus,  Adv.  Haeres.,  I,  23,  3. 

4  Certain  German  Doctors  do  not  believe  in  the  actual 
existence  of  Simon.  (V.  Baiir,  Gnosis ;  —  Hilgenfeld,  Die 
Clement.  Recognitionen ,  — etc.) 

^     Cf.  Eusebius,  cit.  S.  Justin  and  S.  Irenaeus. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  407 

and  he  fell  into  the  obscurity  which  was  the  fate  of 
so  many  religious  and  philosophical  sects.  To 
bring  about  this  change,  Peter  did  not  require  to 
perform  any  great  wonders  before  the  emperor  and 
the  assembled  people.  The  grace  of  Jesus  Christ 
was  with  him:  the  demons,  fearing  him  as  much 
as  the  Saviour,  fled  at  Rome  as  they  had  formerly 
fled  in  Galilee,  and  with  them  vanished  the  prestige 
of  their  dupe.  It  was  by  humility  that  Peter 
achieved  his  triumph."  ^ 

These  last  words  allude  to  the  legend  vouched 
for  by  the  Fathers  of  the  fourth  century, 2  and 
which  the  Apocryphal  Acts  of  Peter  and  PauP 
give  in  more  complete  detail.  In  this  legend,  it 
would  appear  that  Simon  undertook  to  raise  him- 
self into  the  air  in  presence  of  Nero  and  the  Roman 
peo23le.  But  at  the  prayer  of  Saint  Peter  he  was 
abandoned  by  the  demons  who  supported  him,  fell 
to  the  ground,  and  was  wounded  so  severely  that 
he  died  two  days  afterwards  at  Ariccia.  Obscure 
passages  of  Suetonius*  and  of  Dion  Chrysostom  ^ 
have  for  a  long  time  recommended  this  legend  to  the 
learned;  but  recent  works,  among  which  we  must 
place  a  Dissertation  by  the  Abbe  Duchesne  in  the 
first  rank,  have  considerably  shaken,  if  not  alto- 
gether upset  its  authority;  and  the  fall  of  Simon, 
though  still  extensively  believed,  has  not  been  able 
to  maintain  the  character  attril)ULed  to  it. 

1  Fouarcl,  St.  Pierre,  c.  XVIII. 

2  Aruobius  (305;,  S.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  (347),  etc. 

•"     Ap.  Tiscliendorf,  Acta  Apostolorum  Apocrypha. 

4  Nero,  XII. 

5  Orat.,  XXI,  9. 


408  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

Having  now  conquered  this  heresiarch,  Peter 
gave  all  his  attention  to  the  organisation  of  the 
Roman  Church,  and  to  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  —  especially  in  Italy,  Gaul,  and  Spain. 
From  Aquilea  to  Capua  the  peninsula  was  visited 
by  his  emissaries,  who  founded  the  greater  number 
of  the  large  Italian  Sees.  In  Gaul,  Martial  watched 
over  the  birth  of  Christianity  in  the  centre  and 
north;  in  Spain,  the  same  activity  and  the  same 
success  attended  the  mission  of  the  successors  of 
James  the  Greater  and  Ctesiphon. 

In  Rome  itself,  Peter  preached  as  he  had  in 
Judea,  setting  forth  in  simple  language  the  life 
and  teachings  of  the  divine  Master,  and  ^'in 
similar  terms  repeated  each  day  a  sort  of  historical 
catechism  to  the  neophytes."^  Mark  collected 
these  discourses  '* exactly,  but  without  order. '^  He 
is  not  to  blame  if  he  has  but  preserved  a  few 
characteristics,  which  his  memory  retained,  for  he 
was  merely  anxious  "to  omit  nothing  that  he  had 
himself  heard,  and  to  allow  nothing  false  to  escape 
him.''  2  Mark  was,  therefore,  a  simple  echo  of  the 
instructions  of  Peter:  this  is  why  Saint  Justin 
aptly  calls  his  Gospel  **the  Memoirs  or  the  Recol- 
lections of  Peter."  ^  Saint  Irenaeus,  Origen,  and 
Clement  of  Alexandria  held  the  same  opinion,  and 
conjectured  that  Mark  had  acted  of  his  own 
accord  when  he  drew  out  and  published  his  work, 
"which,  when  it  had  come  to  his  knowledge,  Peter, 

1  Fouard,  Sahit  Pierre,  c.  XX, — cit.  the  priest  John, 
quoted  by  Papias  (Eusebius,  Hist,  eccles.  Ill,  39,  15.). 

2  Fouard,  Saint  Pierre. 
5    Dialog.,  CVI. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  409 

neither  defended  nor  encouraged."  ^  Let  us  add, 
however,  that  according  to  Eusebius,  who  quotes 
the  "Institutions"  of  Clement,  Peter  w^as  delighted 
with  the  effect  that  Mark's  Gospel  produced,  and 
authorised  the  reading  of  it  in  the  churches.^ 

Converts  grew  more  numerous,  not  only  among 
the  people  but  in  higher  circles,  as  is  proved  by 
the  allusion  of  the  same  Clement  to  the  knights  of 
the  house  of  Caesar,  who  attended  the  preaching 
of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles.^  The  Palatine,  in 
fact,  was  not  closed  against  the  spirit  of  God,  as 
the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  proves,  in  which 
Saint  Paul  salutes  the  Christians  under  the  name 
of  the  "saints  who  are  of  Caesar's  house."  ^  When 
the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  came,  in  the  year  61, 
to  join  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  at  Rome,  he 
received  a  kind  welcome  from  his  brethren,  and 
his  captivity  was  sweetened  by  the  respect  even  of 
those  who  guarded  his  person.  The  Jews  were 
not  so  kind;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  forced  to 
break  with  the  Synagogue  of  Rome,  as  he  had 
with  those  of  Jerusalem,  of  Asia-Minor,  and  of 
Greece.^ 

The  two  Apostles  worked  henceforth  in  com- 
mon,  each  in  his   own '  particular  sphere.     Paul, 

^  Clement  of  Alexandria,  quoted  by  Busebius  (Hist, 
eccles.,  VI,  14). 

2     Eusebius  (op.  cit.,  II,  15),  cit.  Clem.  Alex.,  Instit.  VI. 

^  "Quibusdam  Caesaraenis  equitibus."  {Adumbraiio 
ad  I  Epist.  Petri.) 

^  Philipp.,  IV,  22:  "Salutant  vos  omnes  saucti,  maxima 
autem  qui  de  Caesaris  domo  sunt." 

5    Act.  Apost.,  XXVIII,  16-30. 


4IO  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

practically  a  prisoner  for  two  years,  preached 
especially  in  the  Pretorium  and  to  those  who  were 
imprisoned  there.  Peter,  more  at  liberty,  had 
relations  with  all,  particularly  with  the  populace 
and  slaves,  as  his  solicitude  for  them  in  his  Epistles 
clearly  manifests.  He  had  ceased  to  live  with  his 
compatriots,  being  suspected  by  the  zealots  of  the 
lyav/,  and  at  once  went  to  lodge  on  the  Aventine  in 
the  house  of  Priscilla  and  Aquila,  whose  names  are 
found  in  the  Acts  and  in  the  Epistles  of  Saint 
Paul.^  From  the  Aventine  he  went  to  live  in  the 
Vicus  Patricius  on  the  Viminal,  and  finally  he 
retired  to  the  Ostrian  cemetery,  between  the  Via 
Salaria  and  the  Via  Nomentana.  It  is  to  this  last 
place  he  went  when  he  returned  to  Rome,  and 
here  he  baptised  in  the  waters  of  the  swampy 
region  called  the  Marsh  of  the  Goats, ^  (surrounding 
the  basilica  of  Saint  Agnes).  He  was  thus  near 
the  Pretorian  camp  where  Paul  had  some  in- 
fluence, and  could  lend  a  hand  to  his  fellow- worker. 
The  captivity  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  ended 
in  the  year  63,  and  he  profited  by  his  freedom  to 
leave  Rome  and  visit  Spain, ^  which  tradition  tells 
us  he  reached  through  the  south  of  Gaul.  He 
worked  in  this  new  mission  for  six  years  with  his 
usual  success.  Unfortunately,  persecution  .soon 
overtook  him  and  he  was  forced  to  rejoin  Peter  at 

1  Act.  Apost.,  XVIII,  2,  25  and  28 ;  —  Rom,  XVI,  3-4 ;  — 
II  Tim.,  IV,  19. 

2  "In  via  Nomentana,  in  caemeterio  majore." 

3  Saint  Clement  of  Rome,  in  an  Epistle  cited  b}--  Denys, 
first  Bishop  of  Corinth,  and  v/hich  Ensebius  (IV,  22)  saj^s 
was  read  even  in  his  time  in  all  churches. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  41I 

Rome,  where  there  was  less  danger.  The  con- 
flagration kindled  by  Nero,  and  attributed  by  him 
to  the  Christians,  had  been  the  occasion  of  a 
tremendous  outburst  of  rage,  wlrlcli  Tacitus  has 
described  for  us. 

The  zeal  and  miracles  of  the  Apostles  should, 
sooner  or  later,  bring  upon  them  the  hatred  of 
their  persecutors.  Nero  had  gone  to  Achaia,  with 
the  intention  of  presiding  at  the  opening  of  the 
Isthmus  of  Corinth;  but  he  had  left  as  his  represen- 
tatives the  Prefects  Tigellus  and  Nymphidius,  both 
worthy  servants  of  such  a  master.  When  the  first 
news  of  the  insurrection  at  Jerusalem,  and  the 
check  of  Cestius  Gallus  reached  R.ome,^  the  two 
Prefects  ordered  the  arrest  of  the  principal  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  amongst  them 
the  two  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  who  w^ere  justly 
regarded  as  two  of  the  m.ost  prominent.  Saint 
John  Chrysostom  tells  us  there  was  this  particular 
grievance  against  them,  that  tliey  had  converted  to 
the  faith  one  of  the  chief  officials  of  tlie  Imperial 
palace,  wlio  was  also  one  of  Nero's  favourites.  In 
any  case,  after  a  nominal  trial  they  were  thrown 
into  the  Mamertine  prison,  which  they  left  only  to 
be  executed. 

Two  dungeons  placed  one  over  the  other  con- 
stituted this  ante-chamber  of  death.  The  first 
(career  interior)  dating  from  the  time  of  Ancus 
Martins,  according  to  Titus  Livius,  had  no  other 
oioening  than  an  air-hole  in  the  roof,  by  which 
also  the  prisoners  descended.     The  second  (career 

1     October  66. 


412  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

inferior)  hollowed  out  by  Servius  Tullius,  from 
whom  came  its  name  Tullianum,  measured  scarcely 
two  metres  in  height,  by  six  long  and  three  Vvdde. 
In  this  anticipated  sepulchre  had  perished  the 
accomplices  of  Cataline,  the  kings  Jugurtha,  Aris- 
tobulus,  Tigranus,  and  our  Vercingetorix.  Those 
who  were  here  incarcerated  suffered  the  ctistodia 
arcta  et  ohscura,  until  they  were  delivered  by  death 
<5r  by  an  unforeseen  release.^ 

The  Apostles  occupied  these  two  dungeons  of 
the  Mamertine  prison  successively,  guarded  by 
Processus  and  Martinianus,  v/hom  they  soon  con- 
verted. As  there  was  no  water  to  baptise  these 
neophytes,  a  spring  miraculously  gushed  from  the 
earth,  which  still  pours  out  its  salutary  freshness 
for  the  devotion  of  pilgrims.  The  piety  of  these 
new  converts  would  at  all  cost  protect  the  head  of 
the  Church  from  the  death  that  threatened  him. 
He  ardently  desired  martyrdom,  and  with  Paul 
exclaimed:  "I  am  straitened  .  .  .  having  a  desire  to 
be  dissolved,  and  to  be  with  Christ."-  But  the 
faithful  pressed  him  so  eagerly  to  provide  for  tlie 
necessities  of  the  time,  by  hiding  himself  for  a 
little,  that  he  consented  to  fly  from  the  prison  and 
the  city.  He  travelled  towards  the  south,  by  the 
Three  Taverns  and  the  coast,  in  order  to  gain 
Pozzuoli,  the  port  where  Paiil  had  formerly  landed 
in  Italy,  and  where  he  had  many  friends.^  As  he 
was    leaving    Rome   and   had   set   forth    upon   the 

1  Rich.    Diction.,    V.     Career.  —  Goyau,    Lexique,    V, 
Career. 

2  Philipp.,  I,  23. 

3  Act.  Apost.,  XXVIII,  13-15. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  41 3 

Appian  Way,  lie  found  himself  with  astonishment 
in  presence  of  his  divine  Master.  "lyord,"  he 
cried,  ^ 'where  goest  Thou?  ^  —  I  go  to  Rome  to  be 
crucified  again!'* 

Gentle  and  severe  reproach,  which  sank  deep 
into  the  apostle's  soul  and  pointed  out  his  duty! 
He  had  failed  to  recognise  the  law  of  love,  and  had 
postponed  the  sacrifice  it  demanded ;  but  with 
hasty  steps  he  regained  the  Capitol,  and  the  guar- 
dians of  the  Tullianum  were  compelled  to  return 
him  to  his  chains  and  his  dungeon.  After  nine 
months  of  captivity  the  capital  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced; as  he  was  a  Jew,  Peter  must  be  crucified, 
while  Paul,  being  a  Roman  citizen,  must  be  be- 
headed. This  took  place  on  the  29th  June  in  the 
year  67  — the  fourteenth  of  the  reign  of  Nero  ^  — 
tv/o  years  after  the  death  of  Seneca,  according  to 
Saint  Jerome.^  Before  going  to  the  place  of  exe- 
cution, Peter  blessed  the  disciples  who  were  able 
to  gain  access  to  him,  and  in  particular  Clement, 
who  was  destined  to  succeed  him  on  the  Pontifical 
throne.  *'Do  not  fear,"  he  said  to  him,  "to  under- 
take the  government  of  the  Church,  on  account  of 
thy  sins.  Think  rather  that  thou  wouldst  sin 
more  grievously  didst  thou  leave  the  people  of  God 
to  perish  in  the  waves,  when  thou  couldst  save 
them  by  thy  courage.     Thou  shalt  save  thy  own 

1  "Domine  quo  vadis?"  An  oratory  commemorates  the 
place  of  this  meeting. 

2  Baronius  (Annal.)  says  the  XIII. 

^  Who  appears  to  be  mistaken  by  two  years,  according 
to  Sepp.  Seneca  died  during  the  consulate  of  Silius  Nerva 
and  Atticus  Sestinus,  the  12th  year  of  the  reign  of  Nero. 


414  I'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

soul  in  bringing  others  to  Heaven."  —  He  likewise 
addressed  a  few  special  words  to  Nicetas,  and  to 
tlie  wife  of  Albinus;  then  he  blessed  his  brothers 
and  gave  himself  np  to  the  executioner,  v/ho  first 
scourged  both  him  and  Paul,  then  led  him  to  the 
Vatican  Hill,  while  the  Apostle  of  the  Nations  was 
taken  to  the  Ostian  Way.  Arriving  at  the  summit 
of  the  hill,  at  a  point  which  commanded  a  view  of 
the  entire  city,  tlie  Campagna,  and  the  Alban 
hills,  Peter  v/as  stripped  of  his  garments  and  nailed 
to  the  cross.  His  soul  overflowed  with  joy  at  tlie 
thought  that  he  should  resemble  in  death  tlie 
Master  crucified  for  him,  and  he  recalled  with 
pleasure  that  Jesus  himself  had  deigned  to  promise 
him  this  resemblance  as  a  special  pledge  of  pardon 
and  love.  But  all  at  once  a  thought  crossed  his 
mind.  Was  it  seemly  that  there  sliould  be  no  dif- 
ference between  him  and  the  Man-God?  In  im- 
ploring accents  he  begged  the  lictors  who  were 
preparing  to  erect  the  cross,  to  change  its  j)Osition, 
so  as  to  place  the  head  downwards ;  this  they 
granted  with  scornful  indifference.  What  signified 
the  posture  of  this  slave  on  his  gibbet?  It  signified 
much  to  him,  for  so  his  eyes  could  rest  more  easily 
upon  the  heavens  and  the  place  where  the  Son  of 
Man  dwelt,  at  the  right  hand  of  His  Father. 
Doubtless  he  beheld  him  already,  leaning  forward, 
v/ith  a  smile  on  His  lips  and  palms  in  His  hands. 
Happy  son  of  Jonas,  happier  still  than  on  the 
shores  of  the  lake  of  Tiberias,  for  he  was  now  on 
the  threshold  of  eternal  happiness,  fully  assured 
that  his  work  on  earth  could  not  perish,  and  that 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  4^5 

his  death  was  th.e  earnest  of  a  triumph  henceforth 
to  be  incessantly  renewed  in  the  Church!  Of 
what  moment  were  the  sneers  of  the  Jews  in  this 
quarter  where  he  had  been  brought  to  die/  and 
who  had  braved  their  own  terror  in  order  to  enjoy 
this  last  spectacle?  He  had  no  desire  but  to 
repeat,  with  his  divine  Friend:  "Forgive  them,  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do.'^ 

The  martyr's  body  was  taken  away  by  the 
Cliristians,^  who  buried  it  in  a  catacomb  near  tlie 
gardens  of  Nero  on  the  Aurelian  Way.  In  this 
same  place  is  now  seen  the  famous  dome  suspended 
by  Michael-Angelo,  as  a  canopy  over  the  tomb  of 
the  Galilean  fisherman.  No  man,  however  great 
he  may  have  been,  sleeps  in  such  a  tomb,  nor  is 
guarded  by  so  much  love  and  so  great  veneration. 
The  centuries  pass  by,  Vs^ithout  in  any  way  dimin- 
ishing the  ardour  that  draws  pilgrims  from  the 
four  quarters  of  the  globe  to  the  threshold  of  this 
tomb,  of  which  the  sanctity  is  even  more  revered 
than  its  splendour  is  admired.  Who  can  stifle  his 
deep  em.otion  when,  raising  his  eyes  to  the  vault, 
he  sees,  like  a  sparkling  crown,  the  famous  in- 
scription: "Tu  es  Petrus  et  super  banc  petram 
aedificabo  Ecclesiam  meam!"  Here  is  the  visible 
and  palpable  demonstration:  tlie  stones  cry  out^^ 
according  to  the  words  of  the  Gospel,  and  louder 

1  Many  Israelites  inhabited  this  quarter,  called  the 
Jeiuish  Suburb. 

2  Under  the  command  of  the  priest  Marcellus,  who 
rendered  him  the  last  honours,  according  to  the  custom  of 
his  ancestors. 

3  Ivuke,  XIX,  40:   "Lapides  clamabuut." 


4l6  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

than  all  others,  the  stone  of  this  tomb,  whence 
issues  the  ever-echoing  voice  ^  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles,  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  golden 
house  of  Nero  is  an  inglorious  ruin,  and  who 
recalls  Caesar  but  to  curse  him?  The  tomb  of  the 
martyr  is  more  than  ever  glorious, ^  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  prophesied  that  his  memory  shall  live 
eternally.^ 

Tradition,  confirmed  by  num^erous  archeological 
documents,  has  preserved  for  us  the  portrait  of 
Saint  Peter.  He  v/as  of  medium  height  but  well- 
proportioned.  He  had  a  pale  complexion,  dark 
eyes,  hair  thick  and  crisp,  curled  beard,  features 
somev\^hat  heavy,  which  lent  to  the  mobility  of  his 
expression  something  of  the  Arab  race,  the  grace 
of  a  child  wnth  the  healthy  agility  of  a  man  of 
action."^  Towards  the  end  of  his  life  his  forehead 
was  bare  and  his  eyes  had  lost  their  brightness,  by 
reason  of  the  tears  shed  for  the  denial  of  his 
Friend.  This  soul,  so  vigorous,  was  also  tender 
and  better  suited  for  faith  and  love  than  for  action. 
In  one  word  it  reveals  itself,  and  we  know  not 
how  to  add  to  his  reply  to  the  question  of  Jesus: 
"Simon,  son  of  John,  lovest  tliou  Me?  —  Lord, 
Thou  knowest  all  things;  Thou  knowest  that  I 
love  Thee." 

It   has   often  been   asked:    "Which   was   most 

^     Hebr.,XI,  4:  "Defunctus  adhuc  loquitur." 

^     Isai.,  XI,  10:  "Erit  gloriosum  sepulchrum  ejus." 

^     Psalm,  CXI,  7:  ''In  memoria  aeterua  erit  Justus." 

^     This  portrait,   taken    from   Nicephorus,  is  authorised 

by  the  ancient  numismatics,  glyptics,  and  sculptures.  —  Cf. 

Fr.  Wey,  Rome,  XI,  etc. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  417 

'loved,  Peter  or  John?"  — The  reason  of  this  ques- 
tion is  fonnd  in  the  opposition  that  is  remarked 
between  the  superiority  of  Peter  and  the  apparent 
preference  shown  to  the  Evangelist.  "Peter," 
says  St.  Augustin,  "receives  more,  because  he 
loves  more  intensely,  as  we  may  conclude  from  the 
triple  interrogation  of  Christ,  on  the  shores  of  the 
lake,  and  also  from  the  final  response  of  the 
Apostle.  However,  John  is  called,  in  the  same 
place,  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved:  this  in- 
dicates a  special  selection,  an  evident  preference.^ 

The  reply  given  by  the  same  Doctor  merits 
consideration,  subtle  though  it  may  appear:  "The 
active  life  represented  by  Peter,"  he  says,  "testifies 
to  a  greater  love  for  God  than  the  contemplative 
life  symbolised  by  John,  because  it  experiences 
more  of  the  trials  of  this  present  life,  and  desires 
more  ardently  to  leave  it,  in  order  to  go  to  God. 
But  God  loves  tlie  contemplative  life  better,  because 
He  prolongs  it  beyond  the  period  that  terminates 
the  active  life.^ 

Others  say  tliat  Peter  loved  Christ  better  in  the 
person  of  His  follovv^ers,  and  was  on  this  account 
more  loved  by  Christ,  v/ho  confided  His  Church  to 
him;  but  John  loved  Jesus  for  his  own  sake,  and 
was  in  this  sense  more  esteemed  by  Jesus,  who 
confided  His  mother  to  his  care.  Whence  we  may 
infer  that  John  loved  Jesus  Christ  rather  with  a 
personal  affection,  as  a  man  loves  his  friend,  — 
while   Peter  loved   Him   more   with  the  affection 

1  Cf.  S.  August.  7'7i/oa?m.,  c.  XXI,  —  cited  by  S.  Thorn., 
I,  q.  XX,  art.  IV. 

2  S.  August.,  iu  /oafm.,  c.  XXI. 


4l8  TIIK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

one  l3estows  upon  a  Master,  or  as  a  subject  loves 
his  sovereign.^ 

Others  again  say  that  Peter's  love  was  greater, 
judging  by  his  enthusiasm  and  fervour,  while  John 
was  loved  more,  because  of  the  familiarity  with 
which  he  was  favoured,  as  much  on  account  of  his 
youth  as  of  his  virginal  purity.  And  finally, 
according  to  others,  Peter  was  more  beloved  — 
speaking  absolutely  —  and  John  was  accidentally 
one  degree  higher  in  merit  and  love.  Of  such  dis- 
cussions the  Angel  of  the  Schools  observes:  *'It  is 
presumptuous  to  pronounce  judgment  it  these  mat- 
ters, for  the  Lord  is  the  weigher  of  spirits.''  ^ 

Tlierefore,  let  us  leave  to  God  the  task  of 
solving  this  difficulty;  but  let  us  not  forget  that 
the  end  of  the  Incarnation  and  of  the  Redemption 
was  to  establish  the  Church,  every  thought  and 
every  affection  of  Jesus  Christ  tending  from  the 
first  to  this  end.  Peter  has  been  chosen  for  the 
foundation  of  the  Church  and  the  column  of  Truth; 
whence  we  may  conclude  that  he  seemed  to  the 
Master  the  most  worthy  of  representing  Him,  and 
of  succeeding  in  tlie  achievment  of  His  plan.  So 
Peter  was,  it  appears,  the  most  esteemed  and  the 
most  loved,  since  w^e  cannot  admit  that  in  Jesus 
Christ  there  was  a  contradiction  which  would 
allow  Him  to  confide  His  Church  to  a  fellow- 
worker  less  imbued  with  His  spirit,  or  less  devoted 
to  His  person  and  His  work.     Peter  is  the  associate, 

1  V.  the  note  that  accompanies  the  response  to  the  3. 
{Sum.  theoL,  loc.  citat.). 

2  Prov.,  XVI,  2:  "Spirituum  ponderator  est  Dominus.'* 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  419 

par  excellence,  of  Jesus  Christ;  lie  is  then  the 
friend,  par  excellence,  —  freely  chosen,  as  a  friend 
should  be;  —  the  object,  ho\vever,  of  a  choice  that 
determines  the  conditions  of  the  mission  to  which 
he  is  aflfiliated.  He  is  the  impersonation  of  love, 
as  he  is  of  authority  and  of  glory. 

We  are  able  to  love  more  tenderly  those  whose 
personal  charm  responds  best  to  our  own  nature; 
we  love  with  greater  tenacity  and  deeper  intensity 
those  whom  v»^e  feel  can  understand  and  best  serve 
the  ends  God  has  in  view  for  us.  The  first  sweeten 
our  joy  at  eve,  when  toil  is  but  a  recollection;  the 
second  lighten  the  labours  of  the  day,  when  work 
and  strife  contend  for  success  and  honour.  John, 
perhaps,  at  certain  times  consoled  and  gladdened 
more  fully  the  heart  of  his  divine  Friend;  Peter 
possessed  the  v/hole  soul  of  the  Saviour  without 
intermittance  or  change,  from  the  moment  when 
he  heard,  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  the  inspiring 
words:  "Thou  art  Simon,  the  son  of  Jona:  thou 
shalt  be  called  Cephas:  which  is  interpreted  Peter, ^ 
the  rock  upon  which  I  will  build  My  Church.^ 


1  John,  I,  42. 

2  Matth.,  XVI,  18. 


Chapter  III. 
James  the  Greater  and  John  the  Evangelist. 

"Da  nobis  ut  unus  ad  dexteram 
tuam  et  alius  ad  sinistram  tuam  sede- 
amus  in  gloria  tua." 

Mark,  X,  37. 

Peter  was  not  the  only  of  the  Apostles  who 
enjoyed  the  Master's  particular  esteem;  it  was  also 
shared  by  two  of  his  fellow-citizens  and  friends,  — 
the  ''elect  among  the  elect," — according  to  the 
words  of  an  ancient  writer.  ^ 

James  and  John  are  known  to  us  from  the 
Gospel,  which  also  mentions  their  father  Zebedee 
and  their  mother  Salome.^  Zebedee  was  a  fisher- 
man of  Bethsaida,  living  in  fairly  easy  circum- 
stances, as  would  appear  from  the  sacred  text,  and 
who  had  married  a  niece,  or  cousin,  of  the  holy 
Virgin.  We  should  know  little  more  of  him  than 
his  name,  did  not  tradition  tell  us  that  he  became 
one  of  the  disciples  and  shortly  afterwards  died  in 
the  peace  of  the  Lord;  but  of  Salome  we  know 
from  the  Gospel  that  she  was  among  the  holy 
women  who  followed  Jesus  when  He  began  to 
preach,  that  she  was  on  familiar  terms  with  Him, 
that  she  was  present  at  His  death  on  the  cross,  and 
that  she  was  one  of  the  first  to  see  Him  on  the 

1  ** 'E/cXe/cTWj'  ^/cXe/crorepoi." 

2  Matth.,  IV,  21,  and  Mark,  X,  35.  —Mark,  XV,  40  and 
XVI,  1. 

(430) 


THE  FRiENDSHIPvS  OF  JESUS.  42 1 

morning  of  His  resurrection. ^  Tradition,  as  we 
have  already  stated,  completes  her  history,  and 
tells  ns  that  Salome  was  exiled  from  Palestine  and 
took  part  in  the  evangelisation  of  Provence,  where 
her  tomb  is  still  venerated. ^ 

Of  this  marriage  two  children  were  born,  — 
James,  to  whom  is  given  the  surname  of  Greater, 
to  distinguish  him  from  his  cousin  who  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Gospel  of  Saint  Mark^  —  and  John, 
who  was  to  become  the  most  sublime  of  the  in- 
spired writers.  Born  about  the  same  time  as  the 
Saviour,^  it  would  seem  that  they  were  predestined 
to  a  close  familiarity  with  Him  from  their  infancy 
and  during  their  youth.  Hov/ever,  we  have  no 
proof  of  their  intimacy,  and  at  first  we  might  be 
inclined  to  hold  a  contrary  opinion.  They  lived 
on  the  shores  of  the  lake  of  Tiberias,  from  whence 
their  visits  to  Nazareth,  situated  in  the  mountains, 
must  have  been  few.  The  two  localities  were 
separated  not  only  by  a  considerable  distance  — 
ten  leagues  as  the  bird  flies,  —  but  it  was  at  least 
a  day's  journey  ^  from  one  to  the  other,  and  orien- 
tal habits  did  not  lend  themselves  very  readily  to 
visiting  at  such  inconvenience.  The  two  families 
met    therefore    rarely    enough,  —  on   the    way    to 

1  Matth.,  XX,  20,  and  XXVII,  56 ;  — Luke,  XXIV,  10, 
etc. 

2  vid.  sup.  Iviv.  I,  c.  3. 

3  Mark,  XV,  40:  "Jacobi  Minoris." 

^  Some  commeutators  suppose  Saint  John  to  have  been 
twenty-seven  at  the  time  of  his  first  calling. 

^  The  accurate  calculation  of  progress  in  traversing  the 
distance  on  horseback  was  seven  hours,  when  the  road  was 
not  cut  up  by  rain. 


422  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

Jerusalem  in  times  of  prescribed  pilgrimages,  or  in 
those  gatherings  convoked  by  the  principal  in- 
cidents of  life.  We  must  not,  however,  conclude 
that  they  were  absolutely  isolated,  in  as  much  as 
the  occupations  of  Zebedee  and  those  of  Joseph 
enabled  them  to  meet  oftener  than  would  at  first 
appear.  But  notwithstanding,  there  is  nothing 
that  points  to  familiar  intercourse  between  Jesus 
and  His  cousins,  before  their  meeting  on  the  banks 
of  the  Jordan  at  the  very  beginning  of  His  public 
life. 

James  and  John  were  among  the  most  fervent 
of  the  Baptist's  disciples,  as  it  appears  from  the 
Scripture,  which  intimates  their  submissive  recep- 
tion of  the  first  indication  in  evidence  of  the  Mes- 
siah.i  Scarcely  had  John  heard  the  words:  "Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,"  than  he  hastened  to  follow 
Jesus,  bringing  James  with  him  as  Andrew  had 
brought  Simon.  Under  what  circumstances  had 
they  received  the  first  lessons  of  the  Precursor?  It 
would  be  difficult  to  answer  this  question,  but  we 
may  suppose  that  their  trade  in  fish  brought  them 
to  Jerusalem,  by  the  route  that  follows  the  course 
of  the  Jordan,  and  that  they  had  profited  by  this 
occasion  to  receive  instruction  and  baptism  at 
Bethabara.  Some  commentators  think  that  this 
also  would  explain  the  relations  which  John  had 
with  the  house  of  the  Pontiffs,  where  we  know  he 
was  well  received. 2  Young,  vigorous,  and  active, 
the  sons  of  Zebedee  could  not  fear  these  excur- 

1  John,  I,  26-41. 

2  John,  XVIII,  15:  "Notus  erat  pontifici,  etc." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  423 

sions,  to  which  they  were  drav/11  as  much  by  the 
love  of  adventure  as  by  that  taste  for  traffic  which 
so  characterised  the  young  Israelite.^  The  Gali- 
leans passed  for  adventurers,  and  nothing  was  more 
common  than  to  find,  on  the  way  to  the  Holy  City, 
young  men  listening  v/ith  attention  to  the  rumours 
that  agitated  the  country,  associated  perhaps  with 
some  party  of  zealots,  enthusiasts  in  the  hopes 
raised  by  the  v/ords  of  the  Precursor,  and  profiting 
by  their  profession  to  pass  unnoticed  everywhere. 
Of  solid  faith  and  pure  morals,  their  ardour  was 
tempered  by  all  that  integrity  and  simplicity  could 
infuse  into  the  transports  of  such  souls  —  devoted 
entirely  to  sacrifice  and  obedience.  They  were 
constrained  to  detest  the  Rom.ans,  to  scorn  Herod, 
to  mourn  over  the  abasement  of  the  priesthood,  to 
cry  out  for  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  —  in  the 
silence  and  reserve  imposed  by  obedience  to  their 
father,  and  respect  due  to  the  successors  of  the 
Machabees. 

Thus  they  were  disposed  to  respond  to  the  call 
of  Jesus,  by  their  age,  their  temperament,  their 
habits,  and  their  aspirations.  Their  relationship 
with  Him  could  not  but  give  a  new  impetus  to  the 
hopes  He  represented.  Without  at  first  recognis- 
ing Him  to  be  the  Son  of  God  made  man,  they 
were  willingly  persuaded  that  He  was  the  future 
King,  whose  reign  the  whole  world  announced. 
Doubtless  they  w^ere  ready  to  believe  in  the 
approaching  resurrection  of    Israel    and   the  uni- 

1  V.  the  Commeut  ou  S.  Luke,  XV,  12.  (Parable  of  the 
Prodigal  Son.) 


424  I'HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

versal  extension  of  its  power:  but  they  longed  to 
take  a  leading  part  in  this  glory  and  prosperity, 
for  which  their  happy  destiny  enabled  them  to 
labour  from  the  very  first  day,  under  the  guidance 
of  one  of  their  own  family.  This  dream  should 
not  discredit  them  in  our  eyes;  it  was  shared  by 
their  companions  until  almost  the  last  moment, 
and  Peter  himself  did  not  awake  from  it  com- 
pletely before  the  Transfiguration  on  Thabor. 
Moreover,  it  subtracted  nothing  from  their  devotion 
and  their  abnegation,  as  we  shall  soon  have  occa- 
sion to  prove.  No  sooner  had  they  attached  them- 
selves to  the  person  of  Jesus,  than  they  returned 
with  Him  to  Galilee,  where  the  marriage  feast  was 
being  prepared  which  was  celebrated  by  the  miracle 
that  consecrated  the  beginning  of  the  Saviour's 
public  life.^ 

Everyone  remembers  that  wonderful  scene,  and 
we  recall  it  merely  to  point  out  the  belief  that 
John  was  the  bridegroom  of  this  marriage.  There 
is  nothing  improbable  in  this  legend,  as  is  the  case 
with  so  many  others  of  the  beginning  of  Christian- 
ity, since  we  find  it  supported  by  the  highest 
authorities.  Saint  Jerome  ^  affirms  that  John  was 
called  by  the  Lord  just  when  he  was  about  to  be 
married.  Saint  Augustine^  says  that  the  Lord, 
in  calling  him,  saved  him  from  the  troubled  waters 

1  John,  II,  1  and  following. 

2  S.    Hieron.    (Prolog,    in    Joann.):     "Joannem    uubere 
volentem  a  uuptiis  per  Dominum  fuisse  vocatum." 

^    S.  Augustin  (Praef.  in  Joann):  "Joannem  Dominus  de 
fluctivaga  nuptiarum  tempestate  vocavit." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  425 

of  married  life.  Saint  Thomas  of  Aquiii/  adopting 
the  opinion  of  his  two  predecessors,  also  says  that 
Christ  changed  John's  resolve  to  marry.  To  these 
great  nam.es  it  rem-ains  but  to  add  those  of  the 
Venerable  Bede,  of  Rupert,  of  Ludolf  the  Carth- 
usian, to  whom  Dominic  Soto  O.  P.,  one  of  the 
greatest  of  modern  theologians,  unhesitatingly  sub- 
scribes. It  is,  besides,  a  tradition  of  the  Mussul- 
mans, who  faithfully  preserve  all  primitive  beliefs 
that  do  not  offend  their  prejudices. 

It  is  useless  to  object,  with  Cornelius  a  Lapide,^ 
that  the  Evangelist  has  alv/ays  been  considered  a 
virgin,  since  his  intention  of  entering  into  matri- 
mony is  no  argument  against  his  perseverance  in 
virginity.  Although  he  conformed  to  the  ideas  of 
his  people  and  his  period,  in  accepting  the  law  of 
marriage,  or  even  in  conceiving  it  spontaneously, 
it  does  not  follow  that  he  ceased  to  be  a  virgin, 
since  the  call  of  the  Lord  preceded  the  realisation 
of  his  design.  Neither  does  it  follow  that  he  held 
virginity  in  less  esteem  than  marriage,  and  it  is 
perhaps  by  reason  of  his  love  of  virginity  that  his 
vocation  saved  him  from  the  troubled  waters  of 
married  life.  The  testimonies  of  the  Fathers  cited 
by  Cornelius  a  Lapide  after  Baronius,^  do  not 
contradict  tradition  in  any  way,  and  we  confess  we 
do  not  see  why  so  much  trouble  should  be  taken  to 

1  S.  Thorn.,  2—2,  q.  CIvXXXVI,  art.  IV,  ad  1 :  "Joannem 
tamen  voleutem  nubere  a  nuptiis  revocavit." 

2  Coviirient.  injoann.,  loc.  cit. 

3  Baron.,  Anual.,  ad  aim.  31.  —  He  believed  that  the 
bridegroom  was  Simon  the  Zealot,  on  account  of  his  surname 
of  Cauanean. 


426  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

destroy  one  of  the  most  charming  pages  of  prim- 
itive history.^ 

In  the  opinion  of  those  who  believe  m  the 
espousals  of  John,  the  bride  of  Cana  would  be 
Susanna,  whose  name  is  merely  mentioned  in  the 
Gospel,'^  and  whose  personality  is  veiled  from  our 
sight  as  are  oriental  maidens  on  their  wedding  day. 
The  heavenly  Spouse  would  reserve  to  Himself 
the  raising  of  this  veil  till  the  day  when  He  shall 
disclose,  in  the  beauty  of  chosen  souls,  the  reflex 
of  His  own  ineffable  purity.  Meanwhile  He  has 
reserved  for  Himself  the  perfume  of  the  lily, 
gathered  by  His  ovv^n  divine  hand  in  the  gardens 
where  He  loves  to  enjoy  the  freshness  of  innocence 
and  peace. ^  In  any  case,  John  bound  himself 
more  closely  to  Jesus  after  the  call  which  followed 
the  first  miraculous  draught  of  fish.  James  fol- 
lowed his  example,  and  both  left  their  father  and 
their  nets,  to  go  forth  in  quest  of  souls. 

From  this  moment  the  two  brothers,  enlightened 
by  a  marvellous  revelation,  rivalled  each  other  in 
affection  for  their  divine  Master,  who  repaid  them 
with  a  predilection  which  they  shared  equally. 
Until  the  I^ast  Supper  nothing  seems  to  indicate  a 
difference  between  them  —  either  on  their  part  or 
on  the  part  of  Jesus.  Similar  in  character  and 
deportment,   to   such    an   extent   that   one  might 

1  No  one  in  the  Church  refuses  the  glory  of  virginity  to 
Saint  Henry,  Saint  Kiuegunde,  or  the  Blessed  Ivucy  of  Narni, 
although  they  had  been  married. 

2  Luke,  VIII,  3. 

3  Cant.,  II,  18:  "Who  feedeth  among  the  lilies,  till  the 
day  break,  and  the  shadows  retire." 


THE  FRIENDSIIirS  OF  JESUS.  427 

believe  tliein  to  be  twins,  tbey  showed  the  same 
impetuous  ardour  in  the  pursuit  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  their  zeal,  which  led  them  even  to 
excess,  gained  for  them  eventually  the  surname  of 
Sons  of  Tliunder}  Was  it  owing  merely  to  their 
natural  impetuosity,  or  had  the  Master  wished 
gently  to  discountenance  their  appeal  for  ven- 
geance,''^ when  they  v/ould  consume  the  recal- 
citrant inhabitants  of  En-Ganuim.  —  "You  know 
not  of  what  spirit  you  are,''  He  had  said  to  them: 
"The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  destroy  souls,  but  to 
save."  And  He  had  brought  them  away  v/itli 
Him  to  another  town  less  averse  to  the  law^s  of 
hospitality. 

This  ardour  did  not,  however,  displease  Him, 
and  He  associated  them  v/ith  Peter  in  all  His  more 
important  works.  They  accompanied  Him  to  the 
house  of  Jairus,^  when  He  raised  the  daughter  of 
the  Prince  of  the  Synagogue  to  life;  then  again  to 
Thabor,  when  He  appeared  transfigured  between 
Moses  and  Klias.^  Peter  is  always  the  first  in  these 
various  circum.stances,  and  he  alone  speaks  when 
occasion  presents  itself.  Once  only  does  John  put 
himself  forward  and  make  him.self  the  interpreter 
of  their  unanimous  feeling.  It  was  when  they  sus- 
pected a  neophyte  whom  they  met  by  chance  cast- 
ing out  devils  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  —  "Master," 

^  Mark,  III,  17:  "Aud  He  named  them  Boanerges  which 
is  the  sons  of  thunder." 

2  Luke,  IX,  54.  —  En-GanvAni  would  be  the  present 
Djeniu,  celebrated  for  the  fanaticism  of  its  inhabitants. 

3  Mark,  V,  37. 

4  Matth.,  XVII,  1. 


428  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

said  Joliii,  *'we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  Thy 
name,  wlio  folio weth  not  us,  and  we  forbade  hiin. 
—  But  Jesus  said.  Do  not  forbid  him;  for  there  is 
no  man  that  doeth  a  miracle  in  My  name  that  can 
soon  speak  ill  of  Me.  For  he  that  is  not  against 
you,  is  for  you."  ^ 

James  appears  to  have  been  still  more  reserved 
and  silent.  Once,  however,  both  of  them  had 
occasion  to  speak,  and  their  words  are  among  the 
most  beautiful  in  the  Gospel.  The  days  of  the 
betrayal  and  the  Passion  were  approaching :  the 
Twelve  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  sad  and  troubled, 
listening  to  Jesus,  who  spoke  to  them  of  the  snares 
laid  for  Him  by  the  priests  and  Pharisees  —  of  the 
trials  that  v/ere  in  store  for  Him,  and  of  His  suffer- 
ing and  resurrection.  James  and  John  were  then, 
it  appears,  at  a  little  distance  with  their  rtiother, 
who  perhaps  like  themselves  had  heard  only  the 
last  words  of  the  Master.  Profiting  by  the  silence 
that  ensued,  Salome  approached,  and  bending  low 
before  Jesus,  implied  that  she  wished  to  speak  to 
Plim,  alone.  *^What  wilt  thou?  He  asked  her.  — 
She  answered:  ^^Say  that  these  my  two  sons  may 
sit,  the  one  on  Thy  right  hand,  and  the  other  on 
Thy  left,  in  Thy  kingdom."^  Jesus  readily  per- 
ceived the  inspiration  that  had  prompted  this 
demand,  and  made  a  sign  for  the  two  brothers  to 
approach.  Simultaneously,  believing  that  their 
joint  entreaty  might  prevail,  both  exclaimed  to- 
gether:   * 'Master,   we  desire  that  whatsoever  we 

1  Mark,  IX,  38  and  following. 

2  Matth.,  XX,  20-21. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  429 

sliall  ask,  Thou  woulclst  do  it  for  us.''  Their  tone 
was  full  of  loving  confidence,  and  Jesus  appeared 
touched  by  it.  With  a  smile,  He  said:  ''What 
would  you  that  I  should  do  for  you?"  And  they 
replied:  ''Grant  to  us  that  we  may  sit,  one  on  Thy 
right  hand,  and  the  other  on  Thy  left  hand,  in 
Thy  glory."  ^  It  was  neither  vanity  nor  ambition 
that  urged  them  to  claim  such  distinction,  but  the 
great  love  they  bore  the  Son  of  God.  Salome  was, 
no  doubt,  more  influenced  by  a  desire  for  their 
personal  interest,  and  her  own:  ^  they  hoped  only 
to  bring  back  the  thoughts  of  their  divine  Friend 
to  more  pleasing  prospects.  What  signified  the 
struggle,  since  it  must  end  in  victory?  Why  fear 
a  death  which  should  but  give  new  life?  I^ike  the 
other  Apostles,  like  Peter  himself,  they  did  not 
understand  clearly,  nor  did  they  wish  to  under- 
stand too  much;^  with  this  difference,  hov/ever, 
that  they  persistently  believed  in  a  final  triumph, 
of  which  their  companions  merely  entertained  the 
idea.  It  was  repugnant  to  them  to  see  the  Master 
defeated,  their  hopes  shattered  with  His,  the  joy 
of ^  His  kingdom  vanished  for  Him  as  well  as  for 
them,  even  more  for  Him  than  for  them.  Their 
demand  is  full  of  tenderness,  but  still  more  of 
courage.  "You  know  not  what  you  ask,"  Jesus 
gravely  replied.  "Can  you  drink  of  the  chalice 
that  I  drink  of;  or  be  baptised  with  the  baptism 

1  Mark,  X,  35-37. 

2  Commentators  generally  attribute  to  her  a  character 
which  justifies  this  opinion. 

3  Cf.  Matth.,  XVI,  23 ;  —  Mark,  VIII,  33  and  following. 


430  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

wherewith  I  am  baptised? —We  can,"  they  said 
to  Him. 

Never  has  more  magnificent  testimony  been 
rendered  to  friendship.  James  and  John  were  not 
mistaken  as  to  the  meaning  of  His  question;  they 
fully  understood  all  the  renunciation  and  sacrifice 
it  implied.  It  entailed  a  share  of  hatred,  con- 
tempt, treason,  suffering,  abandonment  and  death; 
since  all  combined  constitute  the  bitter  chalice  and 
tlie  freezing  baptism.  Self  must  be  abandoned, 
with  closed  eyes,  to  the  impulse  of  devotion  and 
belief  that  it  will  lead  to  the  resurrection  after 
death.  Mystery,  which  the  mind  has  never  con- 
ceived! Abyss,  whence  none  have  ever  risen! 
And  they  found,  both  of  them,  with  the  same 
breath  the  same  reply:  "Master,  we  can."  And 
Jesus  said:  "You  shall  indeed  drink  of  the  chalice 
that  I  drink  of ;  and  with  the  baptism  wherewith  I 
am  baptised,  you  shall  be  baptised;  but  to  sit  on 
My  right  hand  or  on  My  left,  is  not  mine  to  give 
to  you,  but  to  them  for  whom  it  is  prepared."^ 
Then  He  went  forward  a  little,  leaving  the  two 
brothers  behind,  and  the  Ten  surrounded  them 
with  indignation,^  because  they  supposed  their 
demand  to  be  the  outcome  of  ambition  and  pride. 
To  cut  short  the  discussion,  Jesus  called  them  and 
said:  "You  know  that  they  who  seem  to  rule  over 
the  Gentiles,  lord  it  over  them;  and  their  princes 
have  povv^er  over  them.  But  it  is  not  so  among 
you:  but  whosoever  will  be  greater,  shall  be  your 

1  Matth.,  XX,  23  ;  —  Mark,  X,  39-40. 

2  Matth.,  XX,  24 ;  —  Mark,  X,  41. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  43I 

minister.  And  whosoever  will  l3e  first  among  you, 
shall  be  the  servant  of  all.  For  the  Son  of  man 
also  is  not  come  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  redemption  for 
many.''^ 

Shortly  afterwards,  James  and  John  were  to  be 
associated  in  the  agony  of  the  Master,  in  this 
Garden  of  Olives  where  they  had  so  often  rested 
with  Him,  and  in  v/liich  treason  was  about  to  sur- 
prise them.  Both,  like  Peter,  forgot  their  promise  • 
for  the  moment,  and  fell  asleep  while  Jesus  prayed 
and  wept,  and  all  three  fled  at  the  approach  of  the 
murderers.  John,  at  least,  soon  recovered  from 
his  terror,  and  returned  to  seek  Jesus,  whom  he 
accompanied  henceforward  even  to  the  summit  of 
Calvary.  If  Peter  and  James  did  not  deem  it 
necessary  to  stand  by  the  divine  Martyr,  John 
could  not  ignore  the  duty  imposed  on  him  by  the 
ineffable  predilection  of  which  he  was  the  object  at 
the  Last  Supper. 

The  title  of  * 'beloved  disciple'' ^  appears  for 
the  first  time  in  the  narrative  of  the  events  of  Holy 
Thursday.  While  the  Apostles,  stirred  by  the 
allusion  to  the  traitor,  look  for  him  among  them- 
selves, John  leans  upon  the  Master's  bosom  and 
seems  to  seek  refuge  there  from  the  agitation  and 
sadness  of  the  passing  hour.^  Peter  then  touches 
him  upon  the  shoulder,  saying  in  a  whisper:  ''Who 
is  it  of  whom  He  speaketh?"  —  And  John  asks 

1  Matth.,  ibid.,  23  ;  —  Mark,  ibid.,  42. 

2  Jolin,  XIII,  23:  "Quern  diligebat  Jesus." 

3  John,  XIII,  23  :  ''Erat  ergo  recumbens in   sinu 

Jesu." 


43 2  'I'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JKSUS. 

simply:  "Lord,  who  is  it?"  Is  it  j)ossible  to  find 
anything  more  touching  than  this  ahnost  childlike 
confidence,  in  a  soul  so  impetuous  and,  at  a  moment, 
so  gentle?  He  must  indeed  feel  that  he  is  the 
well-beloved,  and  have  fully  proved  his  fidelity,  to 
speak  thus ;  the  Master's  reply  enlightens  us. 
Speaking  in  a  low  voice,  He  said:  "He  it  is  to 
whom  I  shall  reach  bread  dipped."  ^  No  one  had 
heard;  no  one  but  John  understood  why  Jesus  had 
added,  in  presenting  the  fatal  morsel  to  Judas: 
"That  which  thou  doest,  do  quickly!"  —  The 
traitor  went  at  once,  without  a  word,  and  the  in- 
cident had  no  special  import  except  for  the  beloved 
disciple.  Peter,  distracted  no  doubt  by  other  cares, 
does  not  appear  to  have  troubled  himself  further. 
But  John's  eyes  and  thoughts  sadly  followed  the 
traitor  whom  he  had  suspected  since  the  days  of 
Christ's  preaching  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Tiberias.^ 
After  the  first  em.otion,  friendship  claimed  its 
privilege,  and  the  apostle  was  strained,  so  to  speak, 
against  the  Master's  lieart.  When  he  had  followed 
Him  to  the  house  of  the  High  Priest,  and  been 
present  at  His  condemnation,  he  had  sought  out 
Mary,  to  whom  his  care  was  so  necessary  on  this 
occasion:  thus  he  accomplished  the  heartfelt  desire 
of  Jesus,  as  it  were  foreseeing  the  mission  that  was 
to  be  given  him  on  Calvary.  With  Mary  and  the 
holy  women,  he  had  met  his  Friend  on  His  way  to 
be  crucified,  had  climbed  behind  Him  the  hill  of 
Golgotha,  and  had  taken  his  place  at  the  foot  of 

1  John,  XIII,  26-29. 

2  Id.,  VI,  71-72  :  "Hie  enim  erat  traditurus  eum." 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  433 

the  cross,  there  to  console  Him  by  his  presence 
and  his  love.  Thns  had  he  actually  taken  his 
share  of  the  chalice  and  the  promised  baptism;  he 
was  himself  nailed  to  the  cross,  and  felt  himself 
immolated  with  the  Redeemer  for  the  salvation  of 
souls. 

There  yet  remained  one  last  proof  of  his  resem- 
blance to  Jesus.  Death  was  about  to  achieve  its 
momentary  triumph;  it  was  evident  by  the  painful 
respiration  and  the  increasing  weakness  of  the 
Crucified.  A  long  silence  had  followed  the  promise 
made  to  the  good  thief ;  a  silence  rendered  still 
more  dismal  by  the  darkness  whose  mysterious 
gloom  froze  the  souls  of  tlie  few  remaining  friends 
at  the  foot-  of  the  gibbet.  Suddenly  the  dying 
voice  was  heard,  speaking  with  ineffable  tender- 
ness and  respect.  Addressing  Himself  to  Mary, 
Jesus  said:  ''Woman,  behold  thy  son,'"'  and  His 
eyes,  dimmed  with  blood  and  tears,  rested  on  the 
apostle.  Then,  completing  His  intention.  He 
said:  "Behold  thy  mother,"  ^  as  if  speaking  to  a 
younger  brother,  henceforth  commanded  to  supply 
His  place  in  the  performance  of  all  filial  duties. 
*'0  truly  happy  disciple,"  exclaims  Bossuet,  "to 
whom  Jesus  Christ  has  given  His  cross  as  the  com- 
panion of  His  suffering  life;  to  whom  Jesus  Christ 
has  given  His  mother,  to  live  eternally  in  His 
remembrance;  to  whom  Jesus  Christ  has  given  His 
heart,  to  be  for  ever  one  with  Himself."  ^ 

Yes  indeed,  truly  happy  disciple,  even  in  the 

1  John,  XIX,  26  27. 

2  Bossuet,  Panegyriqtie  de  Saint  Jean. 


434  '^^^^■'  I'l-IKKDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

bitter  sadness  of  these  two  days,  since  iii  tlieni  lie 
obtained  more  than  Salome  had  asked  for  liim. 
But  happier  still,  since  he  proved  himself  worthy 
of  the  friendship  that  had  offered  him  a  share  in  its 
chalice  and  its  cross!  "Certainly,  Christians," 
continues  Bossuet,  "when  Jesus  Christ  enters  any- 
where, He  enters  with  His  cross,  He  carries  with 
Him  all  His  thorns,  and  shares  them  with  those 
He  loves;  as  our  apostle  is  His  beloved,  He 
presents  him  with  His  cross;  and  with  this  same 
hand  which  He  has  so  often  laid  iipon  the  head 
of  John,  leaning  upon  His  sacred  bosom,  with  an 
incredible  tenderness.  He  presents  His  bitter 
chalice,  full  of  suffering  and  affliction,  which  He 
orders  him  to  drink,  and  to  drain  it  even  to  the 
dregs:   "Calicem  quidem  nieum  bibetis."^ 

He  drank  this  chalice  in  all  its  bitterness,  in 
sustaining  in  her  weakness  the  divine  mother,  now 
become  his  own  —  in  accompanying  her  to  tlie 
tomb  on  the  evening  of  this  sorrowful  day  —  in 
bringing  her  back  to  his  house  at  Sion^ — in  bear- 
ing her  company  all  next  day  —  in  watching  over 
her  repose  during  the  two  nights  so  fall  of  terror 
and  anguish,  that  passed  between  Good  Friday  and 
the  day  of  Resurrection.  He  had  taken  the  heart 
of  Jesus,  to  love  Mary,  to  suffer  with  her,  and  to 
complete  Avith  her  all  that  was  wanting  —  to 
borrow    the    expression    of    Saint    Paul  —  in    the 

^     Bossuet,  loc.  cit. 

2  John,  XIX,  27:  "Accepit  earn  discipulus  in  sua."  The 
Greek  text  says,  "Eis  to.  t5ia,"  which  is  the  literal  meaning. 


TilK  rRlKNDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  435 

Passion  of  Jesus  Christ.^  If  tlie  Master  had  shown 
liis  confidence  in  John  by  tlie  gift  of  His  moth.er, 
the  disciple  had  inspired  this  confidence  at  th.e 
very  time,  according  to  Bossuet,  in  offering  liini- 
self  to  receive  this  sorrowful  trust.  "Ego  dilecto 
nieo,"  he  said:  "Master,  I  am  yours;  use  me  as  it 
shall  please  you."^  The  heart  of  Jesus,  and  that 
of  John  vv^ere  lienceforth  but  one  and  the  same 
heart,  but  one  and  the  same  soul,  according  to  the 
old  definition  of  friendship:  cor  umtm  et  anima 
una. 

After  those  hours  of  sadness  came  an  hour  of 
joy,  that  in  which  Magdalen  said  to  Peter  and 
Jolm:  "They  have  taken  away  the  Lord  out  of  the 
sepulchre,  and  we  knov/  not  vvhere  they  have  laid 
Him.  "3  Understanding  the  happy  mystery  at 
once,  the  two  Apostles  ran  towards  the  garden. 
John,  being  the  younger,  ran  the  quicker,  and 
arrived  first  at  the  entrance  of  tlie  sepulchre;  he 
did  not  enter,  however,  but  v/aited  for  Peter,  who 
went  in  before  the  beloved  disciple. ^^ 

The  Gospel  narrative  nov/  opens  a  new  field  for 
us.  Henceforth  Peter  and  John  shall  appear 
always  united  by  a  particular  affection,  tinged  with 
a  shade  of  respect  on  the  part  of  the  latter.  The 
preferences  of  the  Master  might  have  created 
jealousy  and  rivalry;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they 
produced  a  more  intimate  union  between  the  two 

1  Coloss.,  I,  24:  "Adimpleo  ea  quae  desunt  passionum 
Christi." 

^     Bossuet,  tdid. 

3  John,  XX,  2. 

4  Johu,  XX,  5-6. 


436  THE  FRIISNDSHIPS  OI^  JESUS. 

Apostles  placed  above  their  compaiiioiis,  as  if  the 
greater  share  of  the  divine  affection  bestowed  on 
them,  had  nnited  their  hearts  more  closely. 

We  have  the  testimony  of  centuries:  Peter  ten- 
derly loved  ^  the  Evangelist,  and  in  the  tact  of  the 
latter  at  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  we  discover 
even  more  affection  than  respect.  Again,  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  w^e  find  them  together  going 
up  to  the  Temple,  on  the  day  of  the  healing  of  the 
paralytic.  Peter  said  to  the  poor  man,  '^Look 
upon  ^JS,"^  but  nevertheless  it  is  he  alone  who 
orders  him  to  walk  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  no 
doubt  because  John  had  modestly  withdrawn. 
Even  when  the  crowd  surrounds  them  with  marks 
of  approbation,  it  is  Peter  who  gives  the  first 
account  of  the  miracle,  and  John  does  not  inter- 
vene till  afterwards,  to  comj^lete  the  edification  of 
their  listeners.^  Both  arraigned  before  the  San- 
hedrin,  they  preserved  the  same  attitude;  the  con- 
stancy of  both  struck  the  judges,^  whom  tlie  words 
of  Peter  had  already  shaken.  But  on  being  denied 
a  hearing,  both  together^  protested  against  the 
silence  imposed  upon  them,  saying;  "We  cannot 
but  speak  the  things  which  we  have  seen  and 
heard.'' 

1  "S065pa  e0tXei"  says  S.  John  Clirysostom  (Homil. 
lyXXXVII  iu  Joann.).  —  Cf.  S.  Augustiu,  In  Joaimem  tract. 
CXXIV. 

2  Act.  Apost.,  Ill,  4:  ''Respice  in  nos!" 

^  Act.  Apost.,  IV,  1:  "Loquentibus  aiitem  zYZ/j  ad  popu- 
lum." 

*  Id.,  IV,  13:  "Videntes  autem  Petri  coustantiani  et 
Joannis,"  etc. 

^  Id,.  IV,  19:  ''■Petrus  vero  ct  Joannes  respondentes  dixe- 
runt,"  eto 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  437 

As  the  result  of  this  friendship,  John  must  have 
become  more  intimately  connected  with  the  Prince 
of  the  Apostles  in  his  ministry.  Such  is  at  least 
the  impression  produced  by  the  fact  that  the 
Twelve  sent  them  together  to  Samaria,  to  confirm 
the  neophytes  of  the  deacon  Philip/  It  was 
evident  to  all  that  Peter  particularly  favoured  this 
companion,  in  whom  he  probably  found  a  sym- 
pathetic and  efficient  coadjutor.  We  must  not 
suppose,  however,  that  he  conferred  greater  powers 
on  John  than  were  ah'eady  bestowed  upon  the  other 
Apostles,  by  right  of  their  divine  mission;  we  do 
not  see  that  this  delegation  can  have  any  special 
significance.  In  the  foundation  and  organisation 
of  the  churches  of  the  Asiatic  Heptarchy,  John 
exercised  the  same  prerogatives  as  Paul,  Andrew, 
or  Bartholomew.  His  influence  is  more  evident 
and  more  vigorous,  without  differing  from  theirs. 

When  Paul  came  to  Jerusalem,  three  years  after 
the  journey  to  Samaria,  John  was  absent,  as  were 
the  greater  number  of  his  colleagues,  and  the 
Doctor  of  the  nations  found  only  Peter  and  James 
the  Less.^  But  on  the  occasion  of  the  council  at 
Jerusalem,  Paul  having  come  to  defend  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Christians  of  Antioch,  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  John  again,  of  whom  he  said  that  he 
was,  with  Peter  and  James  the  Less,  one  of  tlie 
pillars  of  the  Church ;  and  John  graciously  gave 
his  hand  to  him  and  to  Barnabas,  his  companion 
in  the  Apostolate.^     By  the  same  Epistle  we  dis- 

1    Act.  Apost.,  VIII,  14-15. 
«     Galat.,  I,  18-19. 
3     Id.,  II,  9. 


438  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

cover  that  John  had,  up  to  this  time,  preached 
only  to  the  Jews,  but  he  was  shortly  to  be  the 
bearer  of  the  divine  message  to  the  Gentiles. 

After  the  crisis  of  the  year  42,  Peter,  miracu- 
lously delivered  from  prison,  left  Jerusalem  and 
went  towards  the  north,  preaching  on  his  way  to 
the  populations  of  Asia-Minor,^  as  far  as  the  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea.  He  was  accompanied  by  many 
holy  women, 2  and  the  tradition  that  the  Blessed 
Virgin  was  at  this  time  at  Ephesus  warrants  our 
belief  that  she  presided  over  this  union  of  Sisters, 
as  they  were  called.  We  know  by  the  same  tradi- 
tion that  John  did  not  leave  Mary  on  her  departure 
from  Jerusalem,  and  consequently  we  must  assign 
to  this  date  the  first  coming  of  the  Apostle  to 
Ephesus,  where,  hov/ever,  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  preached  on  this  occasion.  When  he  had 
confided  the  divine  Mother  to  the  care  of  the  faith- 
ful, he  had  probably  set  out  again  on  his  course  of 
evangelical  missions. ^  The  glory  of  founding  the 
Church  at  Ephesus  was  reserved  for  Paul,  v/ho 
came  in  the  year  55  to  take  up  and  complete  the 
attempt  of  Apollo.  Tradition  fixes  the  ordinary 
abode  of  Saint  John  at  Hierapolis,  a  town  of  greater 
Phrygia,  where  he  lived  until  the  arrival  of  Saint 

1  Eusebius,  Hist.  eccL,  book  III,  c.  1. 

2  Cor.,  IX,  5.  —  Clement  of  Alexandria  (Stromat.,  VII, 
II),  places  the  wife  of  Peter  among  the  number  of  these  pious 
women,  and  represents  her  as  dying  a  martyr  in  the  presence 
of  her  husband.  We  are  totally  unable,  in  any  way,  to  recon- 
cile this  assertion  with  the  silence  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
actual  facts. 

3  Cf.  S.  Iren.,  Haeres.,  II,  22;  —  Polycrat.  and  Apollon 
(after  Euseb.,  Hist,  eccl.y  V,  18  and  24). 


THE  FRIENDSHIFS  OF  JESUS.  439 

Philip.  There  he  v/as  more  in  the  centre  of  his 
jurisdiction,  which  extended  to  the  country  of  the 
Parthians  and  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Black  Sea.^ 

The  council  of  Jerusalem  recalled  him  to  the 
Holy  City,  v/itli  Mary,  whose  death  took  place  at 
the  very  time  wlien  tlie  Apostles  had  assembled 
for  their  last  meeting  at  the  foot  of  Calvary.  After 
having  laid  the  mortal  remains  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
in  her  tomb,  and  having  been  present  at  her 
Assumption  into  Heaven,  John  left  this  land  for 
ever,  whence  all  whom  he  loved  had  departed. 
Kven  his  brother,  James  the  Greater,  no  longer 
slept  in  the  tomb  where  the  disciples  had  hidden 
his  martyred  remains ;  Spain  had  claimed  the 
relics  of  her  first  Apostle,  and  henceforth,  in  order 
to  venerate  them  it  v/ould  be  necessary  to  cross  the 
sea  and  plunge  into  the  mountains  of  Galicia,"'^ 
ahmost  to  the  extremity  of  the  West. 

After  the  death  of  Stephen,  James  had  gone  to 
Gaul,  and  penetrated  by  the  north  into  the  Iberian 
Peninsula,  preaching  only  to  the  proselytes  who 
had  been  converted  in  these  regions  after  the  Dis- 
persion. It  would  appear  that  his  ministry  was 
productive  of  but  little  fruit,  and  we  find  him 
returning  to  Jerusalem  at  the  time  when  the  first 
Agrippa  began  to  persecute  tlie  Christians,  in  tlie 
hope  of  obtaining  the  favours  of  the  Jews.  Amongst 
the  number  of  tliose  who  were  arrested  was  James 

1  The  first  Epistle  of  Saint  John  originally  bore  the 
title:  "To  the  Parthians." 

2  Even  as  far  as  Iria  Flavia,  distant  10  kilometres  from 
Compostella,  whither  the  relics  of  Saint  James  were  trans- 
ported, in  the  ninth  century. 


440  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

the  Greater,  a  victim  to  the  rancour  of  the  Prie-sL.-s 
and  Scribes,  on  account  of  his  zeal  in  preaching 
the  Gospel.  Not  daring  openly  to  take  the  initi- 
ative by  violence,  they  suborned  against  him  two 
men,  whom  it  is  necessary  to  mention  specially, 
because  their  j)ai't  in  this  matter  characterises 
exactly  the  epoch  at  which  we  have  now  arrived. 

When  Peter  and  John  had  confirmed  the  first 
Christians  of  Antioch,  they  had,  as  we  have  seen 
above,  encountered  Simon  the  Magician,  whose 
hatred  had  been  excited  by  their  denunciations. 
Forced  to  beat  a  retreat  before  them,  the  lieresiarch 
had  gone  about  the  neighbourhood  disseminating 
his  doctrines  and  making  disciples  as  ardent  as 
himself  in  the  diffusion  of  error.  At  Jerusalem, 
the  sect  was  represented  by  Hermogenes  and  Phi- 
letas,  who  were  naturally  disposed  to  combat  the 
brother  of  the  Evangelist.,  The  Jews  made  a  com- 
pact with  them,  and  they  entered  into  a  contest 
with  James,  who  before  long  confounded  and  con- 
verted them.  Their  perseverance  remains  doubt- 
ful; ^  but  the  efforts  of  the  Jews  were  none  the  less 
baffled,  and  they  resolved  to  come  to  open  violence. 
Feeling  assured  of  the  neutrality  of  the  Roman 
garrison,  they  provoked  a  disturbance,  similar  to 
that  in  which  Saint  Stephen  had  perished.  A 
Scribe,  of  the  name  of  Josias,  gave  information 
against    the    Apostle,    who   was    dragged    before 

1  Such  we  gather  from  the  second  Epistle  to  Timothy 
(I,  20),  in  which  some  recognise  in  these  two  men  the 
opponents  of  whom  Saint  Paul  speaks.  —  Cf.  Baronius, 
Annal.y  ad  ann.  44. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  44 1 

Agrippa  and  forthwith  condeinned  to  be  beheaded. ^ 
The  order  was  executed  v/ithiout  delay.  As  he  was 
going  to  execution  a  paralytic  approached  him  and 
was  cured  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Seeing  this,  Josias  repented,  and  casting  himself 
at  the  feet  of  the  martyr,  he  supplicated  his  pardon 
and  begged  to  be  received  into  the  nu.mber  of  the 
disciples  of  Him  whom  he  preached.  "I  believe,'* 
he  said  with  firmness,  "that  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
Son  of  the  living  God,  and  I  wish  to  die  professing 
this  believe."  The  incensed  crowd  immediately 
bound  him  to  the  Apostle,  and  the  King  did  not 
insist  on  issuing  a  decree  for  their  simultaneous 
death.  When  they  had  arrived  at  the  place  of 
execution,  James  called  for  water,  which  was 
brought  without  difficulty,  and  Josias  received 
baptism.  Then  James  made  the  Sign  of  the  Cross 
on  his  forehead,  on  which  he  imprinted  the  kiss  of 
peace.  An  instant  later,  their  two  heads  fell  under 
the  sv/ord.^  The  Christians  took  the  body  of  the 
apostle  and  buried  it  in  a  place  unknovv^n  to  us, 
perhaps  in  the  sepulchre  where  James  the  Less 
was  laid  at  a  later  date,  on  the  banks  of  the  brook 
of  Cedron.  Their  relationship  authorises  this  sup- 
position, which  is  but  vaguely  confirmed  by  tradi- 
tion. 

An  idea  occurs  to  the  mind  of  the  pilgrim  who 
visits  on  Mount  Sion  the  places  consecrated  by  the 

1  The  25.  March  of  the  year  42,  according  to  some  :  the 
1.  April,  according  to  the  Roman  Breviary, 

2  Euseb.,  Hist,  eccl.,  book  II,  c.  8  (according  to  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  Hypotyposes.  —  Cf.  Hist,  de  la  Passion  des 
Apotres,  which  Baronius  accepts  with  reserve. 


443  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

memory  of  the  son  of  Zebedee.  The  spot  where 
his  blood  was  shed  ^  is  at  an  equal  distance  between 
the  palace  of  the  Herods  and  that  of  the  High 
Priest,  consequently  in  the  city,  and  the  execution 
must  have  taken  place,  contrary  to  custom,  within 
the  walls.  It  appears  natural  to  conclude  that  his 
death  was  the  result  of  a  tumult  precipitated  by  the 
conversion  of  Josias,  or  that  they  must  have  wished 
to  render  the  tragedy  more  impressive  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  dwellings  of  the  principal  disciples  of 
Christ  —  that  even  of  His  mother,  who  dvv^elt 
beside  the  other  Mary,  the  mother  of  John  Mark, 
in  whose  house  the  Christians  were  wont  to  as- 
semble. There  is  nothing  in  this  supposition  con- 
trary to  the  inclinations  of  the  authors  of  the  crime; 
Agrippa  and  the  son  of  Annas  did  not  recoil  from 
these  refinements  of  cruelty,  which  must  have 
gratified  the  desires  of  the  people. 

John  had  therefore  nothing  further  to  detain 
him  in  Jerusalem;  far  otherwise,  the  sight  of  these 
empty  tombs  deluged  in  blood  must  have  rent  his 
heart,  and  it  was  without  regret  that  he  set  out  on 
the  road  to  exile,  or  ratlier  on  the  way  of  the 
Apostolate.  He  visited  I^oadicea  on  his  travels; 
then  Ephesus,  Smyrna,  Thyatira,  Pergamus,  Sar- 
dinia, and  Philadelphia,  whence  he  regained  greater 
Phrygia^  and  his  church  at  Hierapolis.     After  tlie 

1  It  is  commemorated  by  a  little  chapel  of  tlie  great 
Armenian  church.  According  to  tradition,  the  house  to 
which  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  brought  hj  Saint  John,  was 
quite  near. 

2  Which  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Phrygia  ad 
Hellespontiim  or  Minor,  situated  further  north,  and  separated 
from  greater  Phrygia  by  Mysia. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  443 

death  of  Paul  he  came  to  settle  at  Ephesus,  to  con- 
tinue the  work  of  the  great  apostle  and  to  assist 
Timothy^  in  his  contest  against  the  Jews,  the 
pagans,  and  the  heretics.  He  left  behind  him,  as 
bishop  of  Hierapolis,  his  beloved  disciple  Papias, 
who  had  become  celebrated  by  his  "Treatise  on 
the  Words  of  the  Lord."  -  Feeling  at  ease  in  this 
respect,  he  gave  himself  np  altogether  to  the 
organisation  of  the  churches  of  Asia-Minor,^  with- 
out, however,  relaxing  the  supervision  so  neces- 
sary in  Ephesus  at  this  time. 

The  city  of  Diana  had  long  been  famous  for  its 
love  of  the  marvellous  and  the  practice  of  magic. 
It  had  become  the  centre  of  resort  for  augurs  and 
soothsayers  whose  doctrines  and  celebrity  exer- 
cised a  deplorable  influence  over  the  minds  of  even 
the  most  cultivated.  Their  reputation  had  ex- 
tended across  the  sea  and  penetrated  even  into  tlie 
palace  of  the  Caesars,  "The  gloom.y  Tiberius 
took  lessons  from  them  in  magic,  and  Nero  en- 
couraged so  many  of  tliese  magicians  to  come  from 
Asia,  that  they  became  a  veritable  j^lague  over  tiie 
whole  country.  Their  influence  was  felt  in  every 
life.  Men,  foresaken  by  the  gods,  had  no  other 
resource  in  the  isolation  in  v/hich  they  found  them- 
selves, than  to  consult  these  imposters  and  to 
become  initiated  by  them  in  the  worship  of  the  in- 

1  Whom  Saint  Pauf  had  made  Bishop  of  Ephesus. 

2  "Ao7twz/  KvpiaiiQjv  e^y-^a-ei.'"  —  An  inscription  found  in  a 
manuscript  of  the  Vatican  says  of  Papias  :  "Discipulus  Johan- 
nis  carus." 

2    Clem.  Alex.  ap.  Euseb.,  HisL  eccl.,  Ill,  24. 


444  "^^^^^  FRIKNDSIIIPS  OK  JESUS. 

feriial  Pan."  ^  The  Apostles  had  encountered  them 
more  than  once  in  th^eir  course:  Peter  had  con- 
tested against  Simon  at  Rome;  Paul  against  Ely- 
mas  in  the  island  of  Cyprus.^  But  at  Ephesus  the 
struggle  was  to  become  yet  more  bitter  and  more 
determined. 

The  first  phase  of  the  contest  coincides  witli  the 
sojourn  of  Paul  at  Ephesus  from  55  to  57.  A  sin- 
gular personage,  whose  life  appears  to  be  as  much 
fable  as  history  —  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  came  to 
settle  there  under  pretext  of  teaching  the  philoso- 
phy of  Pythagoras,  and  had  at  once  acquired  a 
considerable  ascendancy.  Eike  Simon  of  Samaria, 
the  new  wonder-worker  willingly  allowed  himself 
to  be  treated  as  a  supernatural  being,  even  before 
the  prevailing  antichristian  spirit  had  sought  to 
oppose  him  to  Jesus  Christ.  His  doctrine  to  a 
great  extent  resembled  that  of  Simon,  Y/ith  the 
addition  of  his  own  inventions.  His  prestige  per- 
plexed thos'e  whom  his  teachings  had  not  seduced, 
and  he  also  passed  in  popular  belief  for  the  Power 
of  God.  However,  at  this  time,  he  does  not  appear 
to  have  occupied  the  place  in  public  esteem  to 
which  he  afterv/ards  attained,  and  his  name  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Saint 
Paul  was  fairly  successful  with  the  magicians  and 
augurs;  several  were  converted  by  him,  and  their 
conversion  was  followed  by  that  immense  atito~da- 
fi  of  formularies  and  theurgical  treatises  which 
Saint   Luke  has  recorded.^     The   flames  had. not 

1  Sepp.,  Vie  de  N.-S.  J.-C.  sect.,  VII,  c.  33. 

2  Act.  Apost,,  XIII,  8  and  following. 

3  Act.  Apost.,  XIX,  18. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  445 

only  devoured  books  of  magic,  but  even  images  of 
tlie  great  Diana  of  Epliesus,  whose  cult  Paul  liad 
considerably  discredited.  A  sedition  provoked  by 
tlie  silversmiths,  led  by  Demetrius,  nearly  cost  the 
Apostle  his  life,  and  he  was  forced  to  yield  to  the 
storm  and  retire  into  Macedonia.^  He  was  never 
again  to  see  Kphesus,  the  Ancients  of  which  city 
greeted  him  for  the  last  time  a  year  later  at  the 
port  of  Miletus,^  on  the  journey  which  he  under- 
took to  Jerusalem,  and  which  closes  his  labours  in 
the  East. 

When  John  came  in  his  turn  to  confront  Ar- 
temis and  Mithras,  he  found  Apollonius  of  Tyana 
more  powerful  than  ever,  upheld  by  the  favour  of 
Vespasian  and  strongly  supported  by  the  pagans, 
the  Jews,  and  the  agnostics.  The  number  of  the 
Evangelist's  enemies  seemed  but  to  augment  his 
courage,  and  never  did -he  prove  himself  more 
worthy  to  be  called  the  Son  of  Thunder^  for  with 
veritable  thunder-peals  did  he  signalise  the  various 
stages  of  his  campaign  against  the  magician.  To 
wonders  he  opposed  miracles,  to  sophisms  the  bril- 
liancy of  his  eloquence,^  and  it  was  not  long  before 
victory  remained  with  him. 

Was  it  to  avenge  these  triumphs  that  the  ad- 
versaries of  the  Apostle  stirred  up  the  represen- 
tatives of  Roman  authority  against  him?  It  is  not 
easy  to  say.  AH  that  we  know  is  that  he  was  sent 
to  Rome  to  appear  before  Caesar,  that  is,  before  the 

1  Id.,  XIX,  23-40  ;  XX,  1. 

2  Id.,  XX,  17  and  following. 

3  Cf.  Baronius,  AnnaL,  ad  ann.  98,  cit.  Kus.eb.  and 
Sozomen. 


446  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

crowned  monster  who  had  succeeded  Titus,  under 
the  name  of  Domitian.  After  having  confessed 
Jesus  Christ,  John  was  taken  to  the  Latin  Gate  and 
there  phinged  into  a  cauldron  of  boiling  oil,  whence 
he  emerged  sound  and  safe.  The  Love  v/hich  had 
ordained  this  trial  for  him  preserved  him  for 
others  still  more  painful,  were  these  only  the  pro- 
longed delay  of  reunion  v/ith  his  divine  Friend.^ 
Domitian,  probably  not  v/ishing  to  expose  himself 
to  a  fresh  affront,  banished  the  Apostle  to  the 
Island  of  Patmos,  one  of  those  arid  rocks  burnt  up 
by  the  sun  of  the  Sporades.^  There  the  exile  was 
to  learn  by  revelation  the  future  sufferings  of  the 
Church  J  and  also  the  triumph  she  would  gain  after 
the  supreme  crisis  in  which  all  seemed  lost.  The 
book  of  these  visions  is  known  to  the  whole  world 
by  the  name  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  still  remains 
to  all  as  mysterious  as  at  "the- first  day.  V/e  learn 
only  tliat  Kell  will  never  lay  down  its  arms,  and 
that  with  a  persistently  foolish  confidence  it  will 
pursue  its  attacks  against  the  Spouse  of  Jesus 
Christ,  who  shall  be  protected  by  unfailing  wisdom 
and  power  until  the  day  of  the  last  judgment.  The 
faithful,  therefore,  must  not  sleep  in  the  false 
assurance  of  an  impossible  peace;  neither  must 
they  be  discouraged  when  evil  triumphs,  nor  seek 
refuge  in  a  purely  human  protection.  God  watches 
—  God.  preserves  —  God  brings  victory  when  He 
pleases ;    but    God    alone,  who    has    no    equal,    to 

^     V.  Bossuet,  Panegyrique  de  Samfjean,  1.  partie. 
-    TertulL,    De  praesa'ipt.,    36;   —   S.    Hie;rou.,    Contra 
Jovinian.  I,  26 ;  —  Mariyrol.  Rom.,  ad  6  Maii;  —  Apoc.  I,  9. 


THK  FRII'NDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  447 

wlioiu  alone  is  due  glory  and  j)raise  for  ever  and 
ever.^ 

While  writing  tlie  Apocalypse  under  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Holy  Ghost,  John  did  not  forget 
the  Christians  of  Asia-Minor,  whom  he  might  call 
his  children ;  especially  the  seven  churches  so 
justly  celebrated  in  antiquity,  which  he  could  look 
upon  as  his  first-born.  He  sent  to  tlieir  Angels, 
that  is  to  their  Bishops,  advice  and  counsel  full  of 
gentleness  and  power,  to  sustain  and  reanimate 
their  zeal.  Heresy  had  begun  its  work  of  demor- 
alisation among  tlie  faithful  of  these  churches: 
Cerinthus  had  joined  hands  with  the  supporters  of 
Apollonius,  and  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  v/as 
called  in  question,  even  by  preachers  who  called 
themselves  Christians.  The  contemplation  of  these 
evils  saddened  the  beloved  disciple  far  more  than 
exile  and  persecution,  and  he  ardently  longed  for 
freedom  in  order  to  grapple  with  them.  The  death 
of  Domitian  at  last  permitted  him  to  regain 
Ephesus  and  to  live  there  in  peace,  during  the 
reign  of  Nerva  and  shortly  after  of  Trajan,  who 
w^as  disposed  like  his  predecessor  not  to  interfere 
with  the  Christians. 

Apollonius,  compromised  by  his  intrigues 
against  Domitian,  had  been  j)ersecuted  by  this 
latter;  then,  on  the  accession  of  Nerva  he  seems  to 
have  been  reinstated  in  favour;  but  this  favour  did 
not  last  long,  and  John  soon  became  master  of  the 

^  V.  on  the  Apocalypse,  the  prologues  of  several  com- 
mentators on  Saint  John.  —  Quite  recently  Pere  Gallois  O.  P. 
has  written  an  essay  on  its  interpretation,  which  merits  the 
attention  of  readers.     (Paris,  P.  Ivethielleux.) 


448  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

situation  by  the  disappearance  of  the  sophist, 
whiose  death,  in  97,  v/as  as  enigmatical  as  his  life. 
With  him  magic  seemed  to  vanish,  ceding  its  place 
to  gnosticism,  far  more  formidable  and  tenacious, 
the  source  of  all  heresies  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  Church  —  the  synthesis  of  all 
errors,  may  we  not  say,  who  see  it  now  reappear- 
ing and  flourishing  under  the  patronage  of  secret 
societies? 

This  is  not  the  place  for  a  disquisition  on  the 
doctrines  of  gnosticism:  suffice  it  to  say  that  the 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  was  assailed,  with  varieties 
of  contradictions  according  to  the  particular  whims 
of  individuals,  but  all  resting  on  one  common 
negation.  Valentinus,  Cerinthus,  Ebion,  were  the 
special  representatives  of  these  errors,  which  spread 
rapidly  on  account  of  the  concurrence  of  the  Jews. 
Justly  afraid,  the  bishops  of  Asia  came  to  the 
Apostle  and  begged  him  to  v/rite  a  fourth  Gospel, 
for  which  his  personal  recollections  should  furnish 
the  material.^  John  commanded  them  to  pray  and 
fast  with  him  for  three  days,  to  obtain  light  from 
the  Holy  Ghost,  after  which,  fully  assured  of 
divine  assistance,  he  wrote  the  Gospel  which  is, 
after  eighteen  centuries,  the  admiration  of  pious 
minds  and  the  despair  of  the  enemies  of  the 
Church.  It  is  indeed  the  Gospel  of  the  divinity  of 
Jesus  Christ  —  of  the  Word,  the  eternal  Son  of 
God  manifested  in  time  —  the  confutation  of  the 

1  Cf.  Muratori  (a  fragnieut  of),  the  second  century  ;  — 
Clem.  Alex,  after  Euseb.,  Hist.  EccL,  VI,  14;  —  S.  Victorin., 
Petav.  (Migne,  Patrol.  Graeca,  t.  V,  col.  333 ;  —  S.  Hieron., 
Prove JH.  in  Matth, 


the:  friendships  of  jksus.  449 

doctrines  of  Ceriiitluis,  as  Jolm  himself  tells  us  at 
the  end  of  his  book.      But  it  is  also  the  Gospel  of 
the  humanity  of  the  Word  made  Flesh  ^  in  reality, 
living,     suffering,     and    dying    as    actually    mere 
liuman  life  and  human  flesh,   in  contradiction  to 
the  errors  of  the  Docetae.^     John  affirms  it  at  the 
end  of  his  Gospel  and  in  the  first  of  his  Epistles, 
appealing  to  the  testimony  of  his  eyes,  his  ears, 
and  his  hands. ^     At  the  same  time,  according  to 
the  opinion  of  several  Fathers  of  the  Church,  it  is 
the  necessary  complement  of  the  three  other  Gos- 
pels—  a  spiritual  Gospel,  as  Clement  of  Alexandria 
says  —  completing     those    exterior     biographies 
which  regard  our  I^ord  altogether  from  His  out- 
ward personality.     It  is  the  Gospel  of  the  heart, 
whether  we  consider  it  as  revealing  the  Master's 
heart  to  us,  or  as  merely  manifesting  the  intense 
love  of  the  chosen  disciple  for  his  divine  Friend. 
Origen  very  beautifully  says  that   "the  Gospel  of 
St.  John  is  the  fxower  of  the  Gospels.     He  alone 
could    penetrate    tliose    depths,    whose    head    had 
rested  upon  the  bosom  of  Jesus,  and  to  v/hom  Jesus 
gave   His  niother.     This  friend  so  intimate  with 
Jesus  and  l^.Iary,  this  disciple  treated  by  the  Master 
like    His    other    Self,    was    alone    capable    of   the 
thoughts  and  feelings  expressed  in  this  book."  ^    It 

1  John,  XX,  30-31:  "These  are  written  that  you  may 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  that 
believing  you  may  have  life  in  His  name." 

2  Sects  thus  named  from  the  appearance  (doKia-is)  which 
they  accorded  only  to  the  humanity  of  the  Redeemer. 

^    John,  XXI,  24  ;  —  Id.,  I^Bp.  I,  1. 

4     Cf.  Fillion,  Preface  ^  I'Evangile  de  S.  Jeai;,  §  V, 


450  TKK  FRIENDS FIIPS  OF  JESUS. 

is  also,  ill  tlie  same  way,  the  Gospel  of  the  Theolo- 
gian, as  the  Greeks  still  call  him.^  "What  moun- 
tain." exclaims  St.  Augustine,  "what  height  can 
bear  comparison  with  that  to  which  this  genius 
ascends!  John  soars  beyond  the  summits  of  earth, 
ethereal  space,  starry  regions,  even  the  celestial 
choirs  and  the  angelical  legions!  How  can  you 
speak  to  him  of  heaven,  of  earth  and  of  all  that 
they  enclose?  Of  the  spiritual  world  and  the 
beings  that  constitute  it?  These  are  creatures,  the 
work  of  God,  not  God  Himself!"  ^ 

We  could  add  nothing  to  these  praises  which 
are  echoed  even  by  the  pagans  since  they  have 
known  the  work  of  Saint  John,^ —  "an  unique  and 
perfect  work,"  lyUther  is  compelled  to  exclaim;  — 
"a  writing  so  wonderfully  accomplished,"  *  adds  a 
modern  rationalist;  —  "the  very  heart  of  Christ," 
to  conclude  with  Ernesti,  who  has  formed  the  only 
word  worthy  of  the  work,  the  writer,  and  the  In- 
spirer.  England  has  rendered  a  fitting  homage  to 
the  "Golden  Gosp'el,"  ^  by  printing  it  in  letters  of 
gold,  after  the  manner  of  the  middle  ages. 

After  this  supreme  testimony  of  love,  the  life 
of  John  ended  in  charity  and  peace.  The  weight 
of  years  upon  his  head  left  his  heart  still  untouched ; 
on  the  contrary  they  seemed  to  make  him  more 

1  "Ay LOS  6€o\6yos. 

2  S.  Augustiu.,  in  Joann.,  tract.  I. 

^  Saint  Augustine  says  that  a  Platouist  wished  to  have 
the  first  verses  of  this  Gospel  written,  in  every  school,  in 
letters  of  gold. 

^  Ewald,  Die  Johannische  Schriften. 

5     The  Golden  Gospel,  London,  1885,  1  vol.  4°. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS.  45 1 

tender  and  more  full  of  spirit.  The  Fathers  tell 
us  of  a  young  man,  wlio  had  been  confided  by  him 
to  the  care  of  one  of  the  neighbouring  bishops,  but 
who  had  fallen  into  evil  ways  through  the  negli- 
gence of  his  director,  pursued  far  among  the  moun- 
tains, where  he  concealed  this  guilt  of  his  lawless 
life  J  and  brought  back  to  repentance  by  the  tears 
of  the  gentle  apostle,  Everyone  remembers  his 
playing  with  his  partridge,  and  replying  to  the 
scoffs  of  a  passer:  "Even  as  the  bow  of  the  hunter, 
the  spirit  of  man  may  not  be  always  bent."  But 
the  standpoint  from  which  we  like  best  to  regard 
him  is  that  of  the  noble  old  man  carried  upon  the 
shoulders  of  his  deacons  and  greeting  the  faithful 
with  the  words:  "My  little  children,  love  one  an- 
other! It  is  the  commandment  of  the  lyord,  and  if 
you  keep  it,  that  will  be  sufficient."  ^ 

In  the  opinion  of  some,  John  should  not  have 
died  before  the  coming  of  the  sovereign  Judge,  but 
this  is  an  erroneous  interpretation  of  the  words  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  Saint  Peter  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Tiberias.  "For  Jesus  did  not  say,"  according  to 
Saint  John  himself,  "He  dieth  not;  but,  So  I  will 
have  him  to  remain  till  I  come,  what  is  it  to 
tliee?"^  Death  came  to  him,  in  fact,  in  the  first 
years  of  the  second  century.  He  slept  in  the 
Lord,  amidst  the  tears  and  prayers  of  his  disciples, 
who  buried  him  close  to  the  city,^  in  a  tomb  over 

1  S.  Hieron.,  ///  Galat.,  VI,  10. 

2  John,  XXI,  23. 

3  On  the  site  at  present  occupied  by  the  village  of 
Ayasoulouk  (a  corruption  of  "A7to?  decXoyos,  the  name  by 
which  the  apostle,  Saint  John,  is  known  in  the  East.) 


452  THE  FRIICNDSHIPS  OP^  JESUS. 

which  an  orator}'  was  soon  raised.  Piety  watched 
in  silence  over  the  reiriains  of  the  beloved  disciple, 
until  the  day  when  triumphant  Christianity  spanned 
the  walls  and  cast  into  mid-air  the  cupolas  of  the 
Great  Church  of  Ephesus.  In  this  venerable  basilica 
in  tlie  year  431,  the  third  Ecumenical  Council  was 
held,  for  the  condemnation  of  Nestorius,  who 
denied  the  divine  maternity  of  Mary.  An  earth- 
quake reduced  it  to  ruins,  but  Justinian  rebuilt  it 
with  such  magnificence  that  it  rivalled  Saint  Sophia 
in  Constantinople.  For  this  reconstruction  the 
Byzantine  architects  utilised  the  wreck  of  the 
Temple  of  Diana,  especially  the  beautiful  columns 
of  Egyptian  granite,  two  grey  and  two  red,  which 
still  rear  their  magnificent  shafts  in  the  Mosque  of 
Selim,  substituted  for  the  church  of  Justinian.-^ 

A  humble  chapel,  served  by  a  v/retched  pope,  as 
little  enlightened  as  the  sheep  of  his  flock,  has 
replaced  the  splendid  basilica,  but  the  memory  of 
the  apostle  has  survived,  and  every  year  numerous 
pilgrims  set  out  for  Ephesus.  God  has  given  us 
the  privilege  of  praying  at  those  ruins  and  of  ex- 
periencing the  charm  of  their  living  memories. 
Very  few  places  on  eartli  appear  to  us  more  vener- 
able and  more  fruitful  in  lofty  inspirations.  The 
Oriental  Christians  long  believed  that  they  could 
hear  the  Apostle  breathe  under  the  ground  that 
covered  his  remains;  they  still  believe  it,  and  they 
say  that  the  heart  of  tlie  beloved  disciple  throbs 
from  this  profaned  tomb,  and  its  pulsations  pene- 

1    V.  the  Annee  Dominicaine,  (September  1887)  our  article 
on  Ephesus. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  453 

trate  the  soul  of  the  pilgrim.  The  breeze  that 
trembles  among  the  reeds  of  the  Caystra,  and  the 
asphodels  of  the  plain,  seems  still  to  murmur  in 
heavenly  tones:  "My  little  children,  love  one  an- 
other." 

It  is  with  regret  that  v/e  leave  this  beautiful 
figure  of  the  Virgin,  the  Martyr,  the  Apostle,  and 
the  Evangelist.  But  our  regret  is  increased  by 
our  impotence  to  portray  it  as  we  should  have 
wished.  Bossuet  alone  was  capable  of  so  doing, 
and  we  should  have  left  the  task  to  him  but  that, 
able  as  he  v/as,  he  could  not  have  responded  ex- 
actly to  our  design  regarding  Saint  John  or  Saint 
James,  on  whom  the  great  orator  bestows  the  same 
meed  of  praise.  For  our  consolation,  and  also  for 
our  acquittal,  there  remains  the  conviction  that  no 
human  language  is  capable  of  extolling,  as  they 
deserve,  the  Sons  of  Thunder,  who  as  the  Lord 
promised  should  drink  of  His  chalice  —  him  especi- 
ally whom  the  Holy  Spirit  has  called,  in  the  Gos- 
pel, the  disciple  v/liom  Jesus  loved. 


Chapter  IV. 
The  DiscipSes  And  The  flely  Women. 

Designavit  Domiiiiis  et  alios  etc. 
Eraut  autem  ibi  inulieres  etc. 

The  Master's  life  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and 
He  was  anxious  to  promote  a  more  general  and 
zealous  activity  among  His  fellow-preachers;  not 
that  He  considered  any  decisive  move  necessary 
before  His  death,  but  that  He  wished  to  have  a 
satisfactory  organisation  of  all  who  should,  in  the 
future,  continue  to  propagate  the  Gospel,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Apostles.  He  saw  that  souls  were 
ready  for  the  divine  message:  "The  harvest  indeed 
is  great,"  as  He  observed  to  the  Twelve,  "but  the 
labourers  are  few."  ^  He  wished  to  increase  their 
numbers  Himself,  to  give  them  their  mission  Him- 
self, to  organise  their  Hierarchy  Himself ;  in  a 
word,  to  complete  publicly  the  plan  of  the  ruling 
and  teaching  Church.  This  is  why  He  vSelected 
from  the  multitude  that  followed  Him,  seventy- 
two  of  the  most  enlightened  and  devoted,  and 
joined  them  with  the  Apostles  to  assist  in  preach- 
ing, exorcising,  and  healing  the  infirm.^  From 
their  number  it  would  seem  that  each  Apostle 
should   have  six  auxiliaries,   under   the  supreme 


1  Matth.,  IX,  37. 

2  Luke,  X,  1  and  17. 


(454) 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  455 

command  of  the  Master:  in  this  arrangement  we 
clearly  recognise  the  different  degrees  of  the  priest- 
hood, from  the  snpreme  head  to  its  secondary 
members.  This  organisation  was  to  subsist  for  all 
time,  without  the  slightest  alteration.  From  the 
beginning,  the  sucessors  of  Peter  continue  to  re- 
present the  henceforward  invisible  Head  of  the 
Church  —  in  the  double  character  of  Bishop  and 
Prince  of  Bishops.  At  his  side,  his  brothers  in  the 
faith  and  his  subordinates,  the  Bishops  perpetuate 
the  Apostolic  dynasty  in  the  sees  of  their  particular 
Churches.  Under  them  —  not  having  received  as 
they  the  plenitude  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the 
powers  Pie  confers,  but  participating  in  the  priest- 
hood and  offering  the  divine  sacrifice  like  them  — 
the  priests  preach  the  word  of  God,  remit  sins  and 
direct  souls,  —  by  their  delegation  and  as  their 
substitutes  in  these  divers  functions. 

Hov/ever,  v/e  must  not  forget  that  when  Jesus 
Christ  first  sent  the  disciples  two  and  two  to  prepare 
His  way,^  they  were  no  more  j^riests  than  the 
Apostles  themselves  were  bishops.  These  latter 
were  not  to  receive  the  sacerdotal  character  till  the 
evening  of  Holy  Thursday,^  and  this  they  did  not 
communicate  to  their  companions  until  after  the 
Ascension,  that  is,  till  a  time  yet  far  distant.  If 
then  we  suppose  them  to  have  been  the  direct  pre- 
decessors of  the  lesser  clergy,  we  have  simply  to 
comj^are  them  to  the  lectors  and  exorcists  of  our 
own  time;  although  we  must  not  insist  too  much 

1  Luke,  X,  1:  "Misit  illos  hinos  an^e  faciem  snam"  etc. 

2  Id.,  XXII,  19:   "Do  this  for  a  commemoration  of  Me." 


456  TPIE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

on  this  similarity,  but  regard  them  rather  as  cate- 
chists  who  preceded  the  missionaries  in  their 
apostolic  journeys.  In  any  case,  the  Seventy-two 
fully  justified  the  Master's  confidence,  and  the 
renov/n  of  their  successful  labours  soon  spread  over 
Palestine.-^  In  order  to  preserve  their  humility, 
Jesus  called  them  unprofitable  servants,^  but  He 
deemed  them  none  the  less  His  good  and  faithful 
servants,  for  whom  He  reserved  a  large  share  of 
eternal  happiness.^ 

Their  names  have  come  down  to  us  through  a 
tradition  which  Baronius  thinks  may  be  contested, 
but  which  is,  however,  supported  by  many  reliable 
authorities  —  by  Saint  Hippolytus,  Dorotheus, 
Papias,  and  Busebius,  not  to  mention  others. 
While  reserving  the  right  to  criticise,  we  shall  not 
be  more  particular  than  Doctor  Sepp,^  and  shall 
name  only  the  principal  disciples:  Matthias,  v/ho 
v/as  chosen  to  fill  the  place  of  Judas  in  the  Apos- 
tolic College;  —  Alpheus  and  Zebedee,  of  v/hom 
we  have  already  spoken;^  —  Simon  and  Cleophas, 
the  hosts  of  the  Master  at  Emmaus;  —  Manahen, 
foster-brother  of  the  tetrarch  Antipas^  and  cele- 
brated for  his  austerities ;  Prochorus,  Nicanor, 
Timon,  Parmenas,  who  were  among  the  number 
of  the  first  deacons;  — Martial,  v/ho  is  called  the 

1  Luke,  X,  17-20. 

2  Id.,  XVII,  10:  "Dicite:  Servi  inutiles  sumus." 

3  Matth.,  XXIV,  46-47 ;  —  Luke,  XII,  37. 

4  Viede  N.-S.  J.-C,  sect.  V,  c.  8. 

^    V.  book  1,,  ch.  3.  —  It  is  better,  however,  to  consider 
therti  as  adherents  rather  than  as  active  disciples. 
6     Act.  Apost.,  XITI,  1. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  457 

Apostle  of  the  Gauls;  —  Trophimus,  first  Bishop  of 
Aries;  Maximin,  first  Bishop  of  Aix;  Aristo  and 
John,  the  priest  of  Ephesus  mentioned  by  Papias, 
who  lived  with  them;  —  Agabus,  the  prophet;  ^  — 
Hernias,  to  whom  the  apocryphal  book  of  the 
Pastor  is  attributed;  —  Silas,  who  accompanied 
Saint  Paul  on  his  travels;  ^  and  lastly  Stephen,  the 
most  worthy  among  them  of  our  attention.^ 

Of  the  greater  number,  history  tells  us  little 
else  than  that  they  were  ardent  missionaries  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  last  days  of  their  lives.*  We  have 
met  Parmenas,  Trophimus,  and  Maximin  with 
Magdalen,  on  her  arrival  in  Provence.  Parmenas 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  the  priesthood,  helped 
Martha  during  her  whole  life  and  at  the  hour  of 
her  death;  Trophimus,  consecrated  Bishop,  founded 
the  most  illustrious  See  in  Gaul,  the  Romula  Gal- 
liarum,  where  his  mem.ory  is  still  revered;  Maxi- 
min established  his  See  at  Aix,  and  rendered  the 
last  honours  to  the  glorious  penitent  of  Sainte- 
Baume,  beside  whom  he  wished  to  have  his  own 
tomb.  We  regretfully  pass  over  the  memory  of 
Cedonius,  and  of  others  no  less  dear  to  the  hearts 
of  Catholics,  of  France  in  particular  —  not  that 
we  reject  their  legendary  story  as  some  do,  but  that 
we  cannot  draw  out  this  subject  to  too  great  length. 
We  revert  to  the  traditions  of  the  Churches  that 

1  Id.,  XI,  28;  — XXI,  10. 

2  Id.,  XV.  22  and  40. 

^     Id.,  VI,  1  and  following,  etc. 

4  We  purposely  omit  the  names  of  Joseph  and  Nicode- 
muK,  because  they  had  no  part  in  the  ministry  of  the  dis- 
ciples, during  the  mortal  life  of  Jesus. 


458  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

claim  the  honour  of  having  been  founded  by  them, 
or  at  least  of  having  been  favoured  by  their  preach- 
ino^ — traditions  ap-ainst  which  neither  the  insuffici- 
ency  of  written  documents,  nor  the  alteration  of 
primitive  monuments,  can  avail.  Nothing  can 
explain  the  agreement  of  v/itnesses  who  represent 
the  greater  number  of  French  Churches  —  from 
Aries  to  Nantes,  from  Perigueux  to  Paris,  from 
Limoges  to  Marseilles — in  one  solemn  affirmation , 
if  we  refuse  to  see  in  it  the  proof  of  the  evangeli- 
sation of  our  country  by  the  first  disciples:  and  let 
it  be  remembered,  this  testimony  is  corroborated 
by  more  recent  dates  accepted  vvdthout  difficulty 
by  many  other  French  Churches,  also  proud  of 
their  origin.  If  there  had  been  general  error, 
universal  illusion,  regarding  the  first  Apostles  — 
at  an  epoch  comparatively  near  our  own  —  these 
differences  would  not  have  been  stated  with  so 
much  clearness.  The  same  self-love  would  have 
produced  the  same  aberrations.  It  may  be  that 
our  judgment  is  weak,  but  it  seems  to  us  more  in 
conformity  with  good  sense  and  rational  criticism 
to  adhere  to  these  traditions,  which  the  majority  of 
opponents  wall  admit  are  worthy  of  respect.  There 
is  nothing  to  prevent  a  strict  examination  of  these 
documents,  nor  a  rejection  of  those  among  them 
that  may  be  held  inadmissable  after  mature  con- 
sideration. 

While  compelled  to  leave  so  many  in  the  back- 
ground whom  we  should  have  liked  to  bring  into 
prominence,  w^e  must  study  tv/o  of  their  number 
with   great   attention  —  the    most    striking,   so  to 


THE  FRiENDSHIPvS  OF  JESUS.  459 

Speak  —  Stephen  the  first  martyr,  and  Martial, 
whom  the  Church  herself  connects  with  the  Apos- 
tles. Stephen  —  whose  Hebrew  or  rather  Syriac 
name,  Khalel,  signifies  a  crown -^  —  belongs  to  the 
category  of  faithful  who  are  called  Hellenists;  so, 
at  least,  we  may  assume  from  the  Greek  form  of 
his  name  as  given  in  the  Acts,  and  from  his  close 
contact  with  the  Hellenic  Synagogues  of  Jerusalem. 
Tradition  places  him  among  the  Seventy-two,^  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  has  borne  witness  to  his  being  full 
of  faith  and  grace. ^  When  the  Greek  disciples 
complained  to  the  Apostles  of  the  contempt  with 
v/hicli  their  widows  were  regarded  by  the  faithful, 
and  tlie  neglect  with  which  they  v/ere  treated,  the 
Twelve  convoked  an  assembly  of  the  Church  and 
agreed  to  choose  seven  trustworthy  men  who 
should  supervise  the  distribution  of  alms.  This 
judgment  found  universal  acceptance,  and  the 
general  vote  of  the  assembly  was  in  favour  of 
Stephen,  v/ho  by  his  antecedents  was  best  fitted  for 
this  office,  and  whom  the  unanimous  choice  appears 
to  have  elected  as  the  bead  of  the  deacons  con- 
secrated by  the  imposition  of  hands.*  We  know 
nothing  of  him  as  a  mere  distributor  of  alms;  the 
Acts  designate  him  rather  in  the  light  of  a  wonder- 

1  This  uame,  perhaps  the  same  as  the  Chalal  of  Esdras 
(I,,  X,  30),  — XaX^X  in  Greek,  recalling  the  Khalil  of  the 
Arabs), — has  been  translated  by  an  equivalent,  "ZiT^cpavoSy 
which  has  the  same  signification. 

2  Cf.  Smith,  Dictionn.,  V.  Stephen.  —  S.  Epiphanius, 
Adv.  Haei^es.,  XL,  50. 

^     Act.,  VI,  5:  "Viruni  plenum  fide  et  »Spiritu  Sancto." 
4     Act.,  VI,  6. 


460  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

worker,  telling  us  that  lie  performed  many  miracles 
and  prodigies  among  the  people.^ 

This  prominence  soon  brought  upon  him  the 
attacks  of  the  Synagogues,  in  which  the  Jews  of 
Alexandria,  Cyrene,  Cilicia,  and  Asia-Minor  had 
assembled.  He  did  not  refuse  the  combat,  and 
very  soon  reduced  his  adversaries  to  silence  by  the 
v/isdom  and'  vigour  of  his  eloquence.  To  avenge 
themselves,  they  suborned  witnesses  to  accuse  him 
before  the  Sanhedrin  of  blaspheming  against  the 
law  of  Moses  and  of  God  ;  an  empty  accusation, 
but  so  much  the  more  perfidious  and  certain  of 
success.  The  populace  was  stirred  up,  the  San- 
hedrin assembled,  and  the  Archdeacon  was  dragged 
before  the  tribunal  by  his  accusers,  who  appear  to 
have  placed  him  in  custody  on  their  own  author- 
ity.^ The  accusation  in  presence  of  the  judges 
was  more  precise — ''This  man,"  said  the  false 
witnesses,  "ceaseth  not  to  speak  words  against  the 
holy  place  and  the  law.  For  we  have  heard  him 
say  that  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth  shall  destroy  this 
place,  and  shall  change  the  traditions  which  Mose;s 
delivered  to  us."  It  was  thus  that  they  distorted 
the  teachings  in  which  Stephen  announced  and 
prepared  the  end  of  the  servitude  of  the  law,  the 
emancipation  of  souls,  and  the  adoration  of  God  in 
all  places,  who  wished  to  be  honoured,  not  by 
bloody  sacrifices,  but  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 
Nothing  was  better  calculated  to  irritate  these 
blind  defenders  of  a  law,  of  a  sacrifice,  and  of  a 

1  Id.,  VI,  8. 

2  Id.,  VI,  11-14. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  461 

Temple,  whose  syiiiljsolical  and  transitory  character 
they  could  not  appreciate.  They  had  put  the 
Master  to  death  on  this  imputation,  and  there 
could  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  fate  of  the  disciple. 

Standing  in  the  midst  of  the  council,  Stephen 
remained  impassive,  and  all  who  looked  upon  liim 
believed  that  they  saw  an  Angel,  so  resplendant 
was  his  countenance.  To  the  interrogation  of  the 
high-priest — this  same  Caiphas  who  had  dared  to 
judge  the  Son  of  God — he  replied  in  a  magnificent 
discourse  which,  has  been  applauded  in  every  cen- 
tury. It  is  not,  perhaps,  a  model  of  rhetoric,  and 
"modern  readers,  accustomed  to  methodical  order, 
and  clear  and  compact  arguments,"^  are  at  first 
astonished  by  his  style  and  method  of  develop- 
ment. Without  by  any  means  neglecting  the 
resources  v/hich  he  could  borrov/  from  Greek  cul- 
ture, Stephen  remembered  that  he  was  speaking  to 
Orientals  and  to  Israelites,  and  accomodated  liim- 
self  to  their  style  of  oratory.  Commentators  hold 
that  Saint  lyuke  gives  the  very  words  of  the  holy 
deacon's  defence,  exactly  as  it  was  taken  down  by 
the  secretaries  of  the  Sanhedrin.-  After  a  sum- 
mary of  Jewish  history,  wherein  he  depicts  the 
merciful  designs  of  God  towards  His  |)eople,  and 
the  persistent  obstinacy  that  prevented  their  accom- 
plishment, he  points  to  the  Tabernacle  and  the 
Temple,  of  which  they  were  the  present  guardians, 
scorned  and  profaned  by  their  fathers.  Then  he 
recalls   the  words    of    Isaias,    through   whom  the 

^     Fouard,  Saint  Pierre,  c.  IV. 

'     Smith,   Diciionn.,  V.  Stephen;  —  Fouard,  loc.  eit.,  etc. 


1.62  THE  FlilKNDSIIIPS  CI^  TKSUS 


Lord  spoke:  "Keaveu  is  My  tlirone,  and  the  eartli 
My  footstool:  what  is  this  house  that  you  will 
build  to  Me?  And  what  is  this  place  of  My 
rest?"i 

Thus  he  refuted  the  accusation  of  disrespect 
towards  a  Temple  in  which  God  did  not  really 
dwell,  which  the  children  of  Israel  had  themselves 
many  times  dishonoured,  and  which  the  prophets 
had  distinctly  foretold  should  not  exist  for  ever. 
He  made  no  allusion  to  the  import  of  his  reproaches 
and  his  exemplification  of  the  ancient  alliance; 
but  had  any  doubt  as  to  their  intentions  been 
possible,  it  would  have  been  dispelled  by  the  deter- 
mination stamped  upon  their  countenances,  to 
listen  to  no  more.  The  result  had  been  settled 
beforehand,  and  the  death-sentence  was  practically 
pronounced  from  the  moment  that  they  decreed  tlie 
arrest  of  Stephen.  Unmasking  their  hypocrisy, 
he  concluded:  ''With  a  stiff  neck  and  uncircum- 
cised  heart  and  ears,  you  always  resist  the  Holy 
Ghost:  as  your  fathers  did,  so  do  you  also.  Whicli 
of  the  prophets  have  not  your  fathers  persecuted? 
And  they  have  slain  those  who  foretold  of  the 
coming  of  the  Just  One,  of  whom  you  have  been 
now  the  betrayers  and  murderers,  Y\/'ho  have 
received  the  law  by  the  disposition  of  Angels,  and 
have  not  kept  it!" 

Cries  of  death  answered  this  denunciation.  The 
judges,  the  witnesses,  and  the  crowd  gnashed  their 
teeth,  Vv^aving  and  shaking  their  menacing  hands 
at  Stephen.     Tranquil  in  the  midst  of  this  turbu- 

1     Isai.,  IvXVI,  1. 


THK  FRIKNDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  463 

lence,  his  eyes  raised  to  Heaven  in  an  ecstasy,  he 
cried  out:  *  ^Behold,  I  see  th.e  heavens  opened,  and 
the  Son  of  man  standing  a.t  th.e  right  hand  of 
God."  The  Sanhedrites  trembled,  remembering 
the  reply  of  Jesus  to  Caiphas:^  "Hereafter  you 
shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sittinof  on  the  rieht  hand 
of  the  power  of  God,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
Heaven;"  but  closing  their  ears,  they  threw  them- 
selves upon  the  accused,  whom  they  dragged  out- 
side the  town,  to  be  stoned  to  death. 

There  was  no  regular  sentence,  such  as  would 
have  required  the  confirmation  of  the  Roman 
representative."  The  feast  of  Dedication  was  ap- 
proaching, and  it  was  one  of  those  occasions  that 
brought  the  Procurators  to  Jerusalem;  but  at  this 
time  their  charge  was  merely  nominal.  Pilate  had 
been  sent  to  Rome  by  Vitellius,  the  Syrian  legate, 
to  account  to  Caesar  for  the  massacre  of  Samaritans 
assemibled  on  Mount  Garizim.  Cains  Calig-ula,  not 
approving  the  Procurator's  conduct,  caused  Vitel- 
lius soon  afterv/ards  to  be  replaced  by  Marcellus, 
one  of  his  accomplices,  whose  part  in  public  affairs 
is  as  little  known  as  his  character.'^  It  was  probably 
during  this  interval  that  the  dreadful  scene  which 
we  are  about  to  describe,  took  place,  and  which 
escaped,  by  its  rapid  execution,  the  vigilance  of 
the  tribunal  of  Antonia. 

1  Matth.,  XXVI,  64:  "Amodo  videbitis  Filium  hominis 
sedenteni  a  desteris  virtutis  Dei  et  venientem  in  nubibus 
coeli. 

2  In  the  year  37.  —  Marcellus  was  the  last  procurator  of 
this  series,  Agrippa  I.  having  received  the  title  of  king  on 
the  death  of  Calicjula. 


464  I'HK  FP.lENDSHiPS  OF  JKSUS. 

Steplieii  was  dragged  by  his  murderers  outside 
the  Gate  of  Damascus,  to  a  small  eminence  vv^liich 
dominated  the  road  to  Naplouse.^  According  to 
custom,  the  martyr,  whilst  uttering  the  words: 
"Lord  Jesus  receive  my  spirit,"  ^  was  throv/n  from 
this  height  and  stoned  to  death  by  the  false  wit- 
witnesses  who  had  accused  him.^  But  before  dying 
he  raised  himself  to  his  knees,  crying  with  a  loud 
voice:  "Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge. 
And  when  he  had  said  this,  he  fell  asleep  in  the 
Lord."^  Now,  at  this  execution  there  presided  a 
young  man  of  the  name  of  Saul,  at  whose  feet  the 
executioners  had  left  their  garments.  He  had 
taken  part  against  Stephen  in  the  council,  and,  on 
his  own  confession,  the  blood  of  the  victim  fell 
upon  his  head.^  Happily,  this  was  not  a  curse, 
and  a  short  time  after  tlie  persecutor  became  the 
Apostle  Paul,  going  forth  to  fill  the  whole  world 
v/itli  the  glory  of  his  preaching  and  the  renown  of 
his  fidelity  to  Jesus  Christ. 

After  his  death,  the  martyr's  body  was  sus- 
pended from  a  gibbet  and  abandoned  to  the  insults 
of  the  populace.  According  to  a  tradition  founded 
upon  the  narrative  of  the  priest  Lucian,  the 
deacon's  remains  were  so  left  for  a  whole  day.  On 
the  following  day,  Gamaliel,  who  had  not  raised 
liis  voice  in  Stephen's  defence  as  he  had  in  favour 

1  "To  the  North  gate  on  the  road  to  Cedar,"  says  the 
Vision  of  the  priest  Lucian. 

2  Act.  Apost.,  VII,  58. 

3  Cf.  Sankedrin,  c.  IV,  4,  etc.;  VI,  hal.  4. 
*    Act.  Apost.,  VII,  59. 

^     Id.,  VII,  59  and  XXII,  20. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  465 

of  the  Apostles,^  repenting  probably  of  his  silence, 
engaged  some  Christians  to  take  down  the  body 
dnring  the  night,  and  convey  it  to  his  ovni  pro- 
perty at  Caphar-Ganiala,  seven  hours  journey  to 
the  north-west  of  Jerusalem. 2  The  obsequies  were 
celebrated  with  great  solemnity, -^  far  from  the  Saii- 
hedrin  and  for  a  time  beyond  reach  of  its  attack, 
for  the  Romans  had  restored  order  and  peace  im- 
mediately after  the  crime/ 

Gamaliel  wished  to  be  buried  in  the  same  tomb, 
where  he  had  also  brought  the  mortal  remains  of 
his  colleague  Nicodemus  and  his  second  son  Abibas. 
The  disasters  of  the  war  against  Rome  and  the  dis- 
persion of  the  disciples  were  forgotten  in  the  events 
which  we  have  just  related.  It  was  only  in  the 
fifth,  century  that  the  burial-i^lace  of  the  holy  Arch- 
deacon was  revealed  in  a  vision  to  the  priest 
lyucian.  The  relics  were  secured  by  the  Patriarch, 
John  of  Jerusalem,  and  brought  to  the  Church  at 
Mount  Sion,  pending  the  construction  of  the  Ba- 
silica which  was  built  fifty  years  later  by  the 
Empress  Budoxia  on  the  very  site  of  his  martyr- 
dom. This  new  sepulchre,  to  which  the  remains 
were  solemnly  conveyed  and  which  all  might 
believe  would  be  permanent,  proved  but  temporary. 
In  the  seventh  century,  after  the  incursions  of  the 

1  Act.  Apost.,  V,  34-39. 

2  Caphar-Gama  (the  rown  of  Gamaliel)  is  identified  with 
Jemmala,  which  is  situated  about  twenty  miles  from  Jerusa- 
lem, according  to  tradition. 

3  Act.  Apost.,  VIII,  2 ;  —  S.  Hieron.,  Epist.  CIX,  3. 

^  Champiguy,  Rome  et  lajudee,  1.  part,  c.  II.— Memain, 
Comiaissance  des  temps  h'angeliqnes,  p.  48. 


466  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Persians  and  Arabs,  not  a  stone  of  the  sumptuous 
edifice  remained ;  in  the  twelfth  century,  the 
oratory  built  upon  these  ruins  was  destroyed  by  the 
Christians  themselves,  because  it  impeded  the 
defence  of  the  city,  which  was  besieged  by  Saladin. 
Then  all  was  left  to  solitude  for  long  centuries, 
until  the  sons  of  Saint  Dom^inic  having  become  the 
owners  of  these  consecrated  ruins,  undertook  to 
rebuild  the  church  and  monastery  formerly  erected 
by  Eudoxia.^  We  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to 
welcome  the  dawn  of  these  happy  days  in  the  very 
place  where  it  began  to  break,  and  we  hope  to 
salute  again,  in  the  same  place,  the  fulness  of  their 
radiance. 

The  Hast  has  kept  Stephen,  the  first  deacon ; 
but  Martial,  the  last  of  the  Apostles,  has  been 
given  to  us.  There  is  no  legend  so  charming  as 
that  of  this  illustrious  disciple,  and  it  would  indeed 
be  a  pity  if  modern  materialism  were  to  seek  to 
destroy  it.  But  we  have  no  reason  to  fear:  it  rests 
on  too  secure  a  foundation,  and  posterity  will 
relish  it  with  the  same  confident  pleasure  as  did 
our  forefathers.  The  first  Life  of  Saint  Martial  is 
attributed  to  Saint  Aurelian,  his  companion  in  the 
Apostolate,  and  the  ancients,  on  the  testimony  of 
Aymar  of  Chabannes,^  showed  almost  as  much 
respect  for  this  book  as  for  the  Canonical  Scriptures. 
A  Bishop  of  lyimoges  in  the  eleventh  century,  did 
not  fear  to  say  to  his  priests  before  the  whole  synod 

^    V.  le  p.  Lagrange,  Saint-EHenne,  2.  and  3.  parts. 
2    D.    Aurelian,   Sainte-Veronique^    c.    II.,    p.    15.  —  Cf. 
Pierre  le  Scolastique,  Bonaventure  de  S.  Amable,  etc. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  467 

that  "to  maintain  this  life  to  be  apocryphal  was 
to  expose  oneself  to  the  condemnation  of  the  holy 
Fathers,  who  had  accepted  it,  and  to  that  of  the 
Holy  See,  where  it  had  been  received  with  honour. ' ' 
Although  since  lost,  at  least  in  part,  it  can  be 
reconstructed  with  sufficient  authority  by  local 
traditions,  liturgies  and  hagiographies,  which  have 
made  use  of  it.  The  blemishes  that  discredit  more 
recent  legends  cannot,  whatever  may  be  said  to 
the  contrary,  diminish  the  authority  which  this 
possesses. 

Tradition  tells  us  that  Martial  was  born  at 
Rama  —  the  city  of  Benjamin  which  was  disturbed 
])y  Rachel's  lamentations  after  the  massacre  of  the 
Innocents.-^  His  father's  name  was  Marcellus  and 
his  mother's  Elizabeth  —  both  of  whom  followed 
the  vSaviour  from  the  first  year  of  His  teaching. 
The  child  naturally  associated  ynth  the  disciples, 
and  it  v/as  from  his  hands  that  Philip  and  Andrew 
had  taken  the  five  loaves  and  two  fishes,  the  multi- 
plication of  wdiich  fed  tlie  multitude  in  the  desert. ^ 
Some  have  even  thought  that  he  was  that  priv- 
ileged child  whom  tlie  Master  presented  to  the 
Apostles,  saying:  "Unless  you  be  converted  and 
become  as  little  children,  you  shall  not  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."^  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  Martial  attached  himself  especially  to  Peter, 
whom  he  followed  to  Rome,  when  the  Prince  of 

1  Matth.,  II,  18:  "A  voice  iu  Rama  was  heard  .  .  .  Rachel 
bewailing  her  children." 

2  Matth.,  XIV,  17; —John,  VI,  9. 

3  Id.,  XVIII,  2-3.  — To  speak  accurately,  there  is  little 
warrant  for  the  supposition. 


468  THE  FE.IENDSHIPS  O^^  jEvSUS. 

the  Apostles  established  his  Pontifical  See  there. 
After  working  two  years  together,  he  was  ordered 
to  set  out  for  Gaul,  with  Aurelian  and  Austricli- 
nian/  voluntarily  accompanied  by  Veronica  and 
Zacheus,  v/ho  had  formerly  come  with  him  from 
the  Holy  I^and.  In  the  course  of  the  journey. 
Austriclinian  died  at  Elsa,^  a  town  in  the  north  of 
Italy,  Avhere  his  tomb  is  still  venerated.  After 
having  buried  him,  Martial  continued  his  journey 
through  Florence,  Milan  —  where  he  greeted  Bar- 
nabas —  Genoa  and  Marseilles,  whence  he  travelled 
northv/ards,  crossing  the  Gevaudan. 

The  traditions  of  Mende,  le  Puy,  Clermont, 
and  Rodez,  tell  us  that  he  evangelised  these  coun- 
tries as  he  passed,  founding  churches  and  deposit- 
ing therein  the  relics  which  he  had  brought  from 
Palestine  —  such  as  the  hair  of  the  Holy  Virgin, 
which  was  given  to  Mende,  and  her  sandal,  which 
enriched  the  treasury  of  Puy.  At  length  the  holy 
travellers  reached  the  confines  of  the  I^emovici. 
Vv'herever  they  went,  numbers  were  converted,  in 
spite  of  the  resistance  of  the  pagan  j^riests  v/ho 
were  miraculously  punished  for  their  obstinacy, 
while  at  the  same  time  wonderful  graces  recom- 
pensed the  new  converts. 

At  lyimoges,  where  paganism  flourished  with 
extraordinary  vitality,  the  apostle  was  obliged  to 
contend  against  prejudices  and  passions  apparently 
insuperable.    Though  cast  into  prison,  beaten  with 

^  "Duo  presbyteri  quos  secum  ab  Oriente  adduxit  in 
Galiiam."     (Greg.  Turon.,  De  gloria  Martyrum.) 

^  The  ancient  Gracchianwnt  •which  became  in  course  of 
time  Granciano.     (Cf.  Ughelli,  Italia  Sacra.) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  460, 

rods,  and  threatened  with  death,  he  was  delivered 
by  divine  intervention,  and  again  restored  to  the 
fruits  of  his  generous  perseverance.  The  Christi- 
ans had  grown  so  numerous  that  the  author  of  the 
ancient  "Life  of  Saint  Martial"  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  contest  their  numbers  and  account  for  them 
by  other  apostolic  examples  bearing  the  same 
results.  The  Temple  of  Jupiter  was  transformed 
into  a  church,  which  tradition  locates  in  the  north 
transept  of  the  cathedral,  itself,  like  this  primitive 
oratory,  dedicated  to  the  martyr.  Saint  Stephen. 1 

The  first  fruits  of  this  prolific  Apostolate  were  a 
noble  widov/ed  lady  and  her  daughter  Valeria, 
whom  she  had  betrothed  to  the  governor  of  the 
province.  They  had  welcomed  Martial  on  his 
arrival,  and  her  house  became  the  place  of  assem- 
bly for  the  first  Christian  neophytes.  After  her 
mother's  death,  Valeria  broke  her  engagement 
v/ith  the  governor,  and  in  presence  of  the  Bishop 
vowed  her  virginity  to  God.  Incensed  at  what  he 
considered  an  insult,  the  pagan  arrested  the  young 
girl  and  sentenced  her  to  be  beheaded.  She  was 
executed  at  a  place  near  the  city,  from  which  the 
martyr  herself  brought  back  her  head  to  the  very 
altar  where  Martial  was  celebrating  the  Holy 
Sacrifice.  The  people  followed,  both  terrified  and 
delighted,  while  angelic  voices  chanted:  "Thou 
art  blessed,  O  martyr  of  Jesus  Christ!  Enter  thou 
into  glory  without  end."  The  Pontiff  took  from 
the  hands  of  Valeria  the  bleeding  head  on  which 

1     The  chapel   dedicated  to    Saint  Valeria   marks,   it  is 
said,  the  exact  site  of  the  primitive  Church. 


470  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JKSUS. 

he  had  placed  the  seal  of  supernatural  life,  and 
bathed  it  with  his  tears.  Then  he  deposited  near 
the  altar  the  relics  of  the  beloved  daughter  with 
whom  he  was  destined  soon  to  share  the  testimony 
of  public  veneration.  Meanwhile,  he  had  the  jo}^ 
of  baptising  the  murderer,  and  of  giving  him  the 
name  of  Stephen,  in  memory  of  the  saintly  deacon 
who  had  been  his  friend  at  Jerusalem.^  Then  he 
again  set  out  on  his  course  of  preaching  in  the 
neighbouring  provinces,  leaving  the  care  of  the 
church  at  Limoges  to  Aurelian.  We  find  him 
afterwards  at  Bourges,  Tours,  Poitiers,  Angouleme, 
Saintes,  Perigueux,  Bordeaux,  and  Caliors,  where 
he  prepared  the  way  for,  or  gave  help  to,  Ursinius, 
Gratian,  Frontus,  Kutropius,^  and  the  other  pio- 
neers of  the  Gospel.  He  had  already  sent  Zacheus 
and  Veronica  in  advance,  to  sov/  the  divine  word 
throughout  the  country  of  Bazas,  and  he  had 
rejoined  them  at  Soulac,  whence  they  set  out 
together  for  tlie  evangelisation  of  Bordelais.^  But 
he  soon  perceived,  by  the  very  abundance  of  his 
harvest,  how  insuincient  was  the  number  of  labour- 
ers, and  he  went  to  Rome  to  render  to  Peter  an 
account  of  his  services,  and  to  solicit  fresh  assist- 
ance from  him.     At  this  ^^eriod  we   hear  of  the 

^  Several  of  our  churches  received  from  their  founders 
the  name  of  Saint  Stephen  —  among  others  the  cathedral  of 
Toulouse,  the  first  oratory  founded  at  Bordeaux  which  become 
Saint-Seurin,  etc. 

2  Whom  the  council  of  Limoges  regarded  as  sent  by 
Saint  Peter  or  Saint  Clement.  (Labbe,  Coficil.  Lemov.,  ann. 
1031.) 

3  Cf .  Bernard  Guidonis;  —  S.  Antoninus;  —Jean  Bouchet; 
—  Greg.  lyombardelli,  fctc. 


THR  FRlENDSniPS  OF  JliSUS.  47 1 

mission  of  several  lioly  personages,  such  as  Satur- 
ninns  of  Toulouse,  George  of  Velay,  Julian  of 
Mans,  as  well  as  many  others  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion, wliose  memory  is  kept  alive  by  tradition  and 
the  local  I^iturgy.  Returning  to  Gaul,  Martial 
redoubled  his  activity,  and  if  v/e  can  believe  the 
legend,  there  was  not  a  tovv^n  of  any  importance  in 
Spain  and  England  which  he  did  not  gladden  by 
liis  presence  and  liis  ministry. 

A  life  so  fruitful  should  end  with  supernatural 
glory.  After  twenty-eight  years  in  the  Episcopate, 
in  the  fifty-third  of  his  vocation,  the  gentle  son  of 
Rama  having  become  the  zealous  Apostle  of  Aqui- 
taine,  received  from  heaven  the  v/arning  of  his 
approacliing  death,  which  he  joyfully  announced 
to  his  brethren.  He  gathered  them  around  him 
for  the  last  time,  to  exhort  and  bless  them.  All 
wept  and  mourned;  but  he,  hearing  already  the 
angelic  concerts,  sweetly  said  to  them: — "Silence! 
the  Eord  cometli,  according  to  His  promise!"  At 
the  same  moment  a  voice  was  heard  saying: 
"Blessed  soul,  leave  th}^  body  and  come  to  enjoy 
with  Me  the  brightness  of  eternal  light," — and 
the  soul  of  Martial  passed  away  v/hile  the  Angels 
chanted:  "Happy  he  whom  Thou  hast  chosen  and 
called ;  he  shall  live  with  Thee  in  Thy  eternal 
tabernacles!"  ^ 

At  the  tomi3  of  Martial  many  miracles  witnessed 
to  his  sanctity,  of  which  the  most  celebrated  is  the 
suppression  of  the  plague  wliicli  caused  such 
frightful  ravages  throughout  all  Aquitaine  about 

^     Ancienue,  Vie  de  S.  Blartial,  etc. 


473  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

the  year  994.  The  "fiery  pest,"  as  it  was  called, 
swept  away  men  by  thousands  in  spite  of  every 
effort.  Therefore  the  Bishops  of  that  region  as- 
sembled at  the  tomb  of  the  saint  and  through  their 
metropolitan,  Archbishop  Gombaud,  solicited  his 
intercession.  This  was  speedily  granted  and  the 
dreadful  scourge  soon  disappeared,  leaving  behind 
it  the  everlasting  remembrance  of  the  benefit  ob- 
tained by  the  intervention  of  the  saintly  Bishop. 

We,  in  our  day,  do  not  possess  the  monopoly  of 
severe  critics  regarding  old  legends;  they  were  to 
be  found  so  far  back  as  the  eleventh  century, 
exercising  perhaps  even  more  discernment  and 
justice.  It  happened  that  the  veneration  with 
which  some  churches  regarded  their  founders  led 
to  an  exaggeration  of  the  honour  due  to  them. 
Thus  it  was  that  the  holy  bishops  and  martyrs, — 
Frontus,  Saturninus,  Denis,  Julian,  Austremonius, 
and  Ursinius  —  following  Martial  into  Gaul,^  had 
received  the  title  of  Apostles,  which  was  considered 
inappropriate  by  the  bishops  of  the  province  of 
Bourges.  Assembling  in  council  at  lyimoges,  in 
1029,  with  the  Abbots  of  the  province,  under  the 
presidency  of  Archbishop  Gauklin,  they  had  exam- 
ined the  question  without  coming  to  any  decision. 
In  103 1  it  was  taken  up  again,  with  a  vigour  that 
would  do  honour  to  our  m.odern  Devil's  Advocate. 
The  Benedictine  Abbot  of  Solignac,  after  having 
observed  that  the  title  of  Apostle  should  be  given 

1  "Qui  post  Martialein  iu  Galliam  venerunt."  —  Concil. 
Lefnovic.  iit  supra. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  473 

only  to  the  preachers  who  came  from  Jerusalem/ 
refused  to  bestow  it  —  as  also  did  Gauzbert^  —  on 
Saint  Frontus  and  on  those  others  whom  we  have 
named:  but  he  unhesitatingly  conferred  it  upon 
Saint  Martial,  after  the  very  ancient  testimonies 
accepted  by  Aquitaine,  France,  Spain,  and  other 
countries.^ 

Aymon  de  Bourbon,  Archbishop  of  Bourges, 
spoke  after  him:  "No  one,"  he  said,  "disputes 
that  Martial  was  one  of  the  first  seventy-two  dis- 
ciples. This  is  why,  following  the  opinion  of  a 
great  number  of  learned  men,  we  have,  in  our 
cathedral  and  before  all  our  people,  testified  that 
he  is  an  Apostle.  ...  It  is  undoubtedly  proved  by 
the  most  ancient  manuscripts  accepted  in  all 
churches  and  in  all  countries,  that  the  Blessed 
Martial  has  been  inscribed  among  the  number  of 
the  Apostles.  .  .  .  Here  vv^e  have  two  priests  who 
were  formerly  sent  on  a  mission,  with  this  object, 
to  England,  and  who  found  in  martyrologies  and 
litanies  of  the  highest  antiquity,  the  name  of  Mar- 
tial bearing  the  title  of  Apostle.  This  emanated, 
they  say,  from  Pope  Gregory  the  Great  and  the 
missionaries  sent  by  him."  * 

1  "NuUus  apostolus  fuit  nisi  qui  a  Jerusalem  profectus 
est." 

2  " Ckorepiscopus"  or  Vicar-General,  author  of  a  new  Life 
of  S.  Frontus:  "Scripturam  de  sancto  Fronte  novam." 

2  Martialis  vero  nomen  in  vetustissimis  Aquitaniae, 
Frauciae,  Hispaniae,  et  aliarum  gentium  libris  cum  apostolis 
inscriptum  comperimus." 

4  "Nemo  denegat  Martialem  fuisse  ununi  de  septuaginta 
duobus.  .  .  .  Liquido  autem  constat  quia  per  antiquissimos 
codices,  penes  innumeros  locos  et  gentes  longiquas,  B.  Mar- 


474  "^^^^  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Jourdaiii  de  I^oron,  Bishop  of  Limoges,  said  in 
his  turn:  "There  has  been  a  watchful  anxiety 
regarding  this  subject,  and  the  debate  has  ended 
by  an  appeal  to  the  Apostolic  See.  Therefore  His 
Holiness,  Pope  John,^  has  written  us  a  letter  in 
which  he  attests  the  Apostolate  of  Martial,  and 
refutes  those  who  dispute  it;  from  which  you  may 
easily  learn  the  feeling  of  the  See  of  Rome  on  this 
point,"' 

It  is  evident  from  this  discussion  that  the  so- 
called  barbarity  of  the  eleventh  century  was  not 
unmixed  with  prudence.  It  did  not  accept,  with 
closed  eyes,  nev/  phantasies,  however  seductive 
they  might  appear,  but  taxed  their  authors  most 
severely,  when  they  were  influenced,  like  Gauzbert 
of  Limoges,  by  love  of  lucre,  kwri  causa.  Thus  it 
declared  the  narrative  that  Saint  Martial  had  been 
present  at  the  Last  Supper,  and  had  served  our 
Lord  when  He  washed  the  apostle's  feet,  to  be 
apocryphal, — "because,"  said  Aymon,  '^this  story 
does  not  coincide  with  the  evangelical  text."  But 
it  did  not  consider  itself  bound  to  reject  traditions 
respected  for  centuries,  and  monuments  universally 
accepted.  It  was  content  to  recast,  in  suitable 
terms,    those    documents    suspected   of    alteration, 

tialis  cum  aliis  apostolis  scriptus  est.  .  .  ."     (Labbe,  Coiicil. 
Leniovic.  aun.  1031.) 

1  Pope  John  XIX  (1024—1033). 

2  "Super  qua  (altercatione)  D.  Joannes  papa  epistolam 
nobis  destinavit,  magnopere  testificans  apostolatum  Martialis 
et  redarguens  omnes  qui  contra  dicunt :  unde  facile  claret 
testimonium  veruui  Romanae  sedis."  (Labbe,  Concil. 
Leinovic.) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  475 

with  an  impartiality  worthy  of  all  praise.  For 
tbis  reason,  the  testimony  of  the  assembly  regard- 
ing Saint  Martial  is  j^rccious  to  us  —  irrespective 
of  the  light  which  it  throws  upon  the  beliefs  of  our 
Fathers  in  the  Apostolic  origin  of  our  Christianity. 
Though  having  no  claim  to  the  title  of  Apostles, 
the  council  of  lyimoges  held  that  Frontus  and  his 
companions  had  none  the  less  been  sent  by  Saint 
Peter  and  Saint  Clement  to  Gaul  in  the  first  cen- 
tury. It  seems  to  us  that  we  may  still  cherish  our 
belief  and  congratulate  ourselves  upon  it,  as  a 
proof  of  the  predilection  which  God  has  always 
shown  to  France. 

The  Apostles  and  disciples  were  not  the  only 
ones  who  continually  accompanied  the  divine 
Master.  Mary  herself  followed  Him,^  with  her 
sister-in-law  Mary  Cleophas,  her  niece  Salome, 
and  another  pious  woman  whom  it  is  not  easy  to 
identify,  but  whom  commentators  suppose  to  be 
that  "other  Mary"  mentioned  by  Saint  Matthew.^ 
Martha  and  Magdalen  followed  this  example,  with 
their  servants  Marcella  and  Sara,  frequently  spoken 
of  by  ancient  writers.  The  first  is  specially  cele- 
brated for  the  w^ords  attributed  to  her  after  the 
Saviour  had  confounded  the  Pharisees  of  Capliar- 
naum.  "Blessed  is  the  womb  that  bore  Thee,  and 
the  paps  that  gave  Thee  suck."  ^  —  To  v/hich  the 

1  S.  John  Chrysostom,  Horn.  XXII  in  Joa?in.  —  S. 
Epiphane,  Haeres.,  XXVIII. 

2  Matth.,  XXVII,  61  and  XXVIII,  1 :  "Altera  Maria." 

3  Luke,  XI,  27.— Cf.  Pvaban  Maur,  Vie  de  St.  Madeleine, 
c.  XXXVI.  —  A  singular  devotion,  the  origin  of  which  can- 
not be  traced,  makes  Sara  the  patron  of  the  gypsies  or 
vagrants  who  often  come  to  visit  the  Holy  Marys  of  the  Sea. 


476  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Master  had  replied:  "Yea,  rather,  blessed  are  they 
who  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  keep  it."  Two 
other  women  are  mentioned  in  the  Gospel,  Johanna 
the  wife  of  Chusa,  Procurator  or  Intendant  of 
Herod, ^  and  Susanna,  unanimously  identified  by 
the  ancients  with  the  bride  of  Cana,  and  we  are 
not  able  to  contradict  their  assertion.^  Of  this 
latter  we  know  only  the  name;  but  the  former 
a^Dpears  once  again  in  the  sacred  text,  —  on  the 
morning  of  the  Resurrection,  when  we  find  her 
with  Magdalen,  Mary  Cleophas,  and  Salome  on 
their  way  to  the  sepulchre,  and  receiving  with 
them  the  salutation  of  the  Vanquisher  of  death. ^ 

A  tradition  adds  to  their  number  Berenicia  or 
Veronica,*  the  companion  of  Saint  Martial  during 
his  journey  from  Rome  to  Gaul  and  in  his  apostolic 
labours  in  Aquitaine.  Zacheus,  in  the  opinion  of 
ancient  writers,^  had  the  care  of  Veronica  — 
probably  as  Parmenas  had  of  Martha  and  Maximin 
of  Magdalen  —  but  he  need  not  necessarily  be 
regarded  as  her  husband.  He  did  not,  however, 
remain  with  her  to  the  end,  but  retired  to  the 
lonely  wilderness  of  Quercy,  where  he  took  refuge 

1  Ivuke,  VIII,  3.  —  Smith,  DicHonn.,  (V.  Chusa)  says 
that  Johanna  had  been  delivered  by  our  Lord  from  a  posses- 
sion or  some  other  malady.  Some  think  that  Chusa  was  the 
royal  official  whose  son  was  healed  at  Capharnaum.  (John, 
IV,  46  and  following.) 

^     Cf.  Nicephorus,  Hist,  eccl.,  VIII,  30  etc. 

3  Matth.,  XXVIII,  9. 

4  BepouiKY}  which  a  strange  etymology  derives  from  Vera 
and  Icon,  a  Latin  word  and  a  Greek  word  tlie  connection 
between  which  might  well  astonish  one. 

5  S.  Antoninus,  Chronique^  p.  I,  tit.  6,  c.  25. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  477 

in  the  rock  now  known  as  Amator  or  Amadour, 
which  he  had  substituted  for  his  Hebrew  name. 
Veronica  continued  to  preach  the  Gospel  along  the 
shores  of  the  Garonne  and  the  sea,  until  it  pleased 
God  to  call  her  to  Himself.^  She  was  weighed 
down  by  her  years, ^  which  chroniclers  tell  us  had 
reached  a  hundred  —  and  was  truly  full  of  days, 
and  riches,  and  glory. ^  This  was  about  the  year  71, 
and  the  body  of  the  saint  was  laid  at  the  foot  of 
Mary's  altar,  in  the  church  at  Soulac,  surrounded 
by  a  great  number  of  clergy  and  people.* 

In  accepting  the  services  of  these  pious  women, 
our  I,ord  did  not  disregard  the  customs  of  His 
country  and  of  that  period.  The  Rabbis  had  long 
before  undertaken  the  care  of  the  most  fervent 
votaries  of  their  doctrine,  and  no  one  censured 
their  so  doing.^  It  appears,  however,  that  Jesus 
established  the  innovation  of  their  following  Him 
in  His  travels;  6  but  the  presence  of  Mary  sufficed 
to  explain  this,  although  the  dignity  of  His  char- 
acter and  His  actions  did  not  prevent  malicious 
imputations.  Condescending  as  He  was  to  all,  it 
was  well  understood  that  He  would  permit  no 
familiarity,  especially  on  the  part  of  women,  and 

^     S.  Autonius,  op,  cit. 

2  "Coufecta  senio,"  says  P.  Subert,  Bishop  of  S.  Papoul 
(ap.  y^r/.  SS.  of  4.  Feb.). 

3  I.  Paralip.,  XXIX,  28:  "lu  senectute  bona,  plenus 
dierum  et  divitiis  et  gloria." 

■•  Legend  of  Cenebrun,  in  Florimond  de  Lesparre  (edited 
by  M.  Rabanis;. 

5  S.  Jerome,  /«  Matth.  XXVII,  56  (according  to  the 
Neveh-Schaloni,  fol,  56). 

^    Fillion,  Comment,  on  S.  Ivuke  in  h.  I. 


478  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

the  Apostles  liad  been  astonislied  to  find  Him  in 
converse  with  the  Samaritan.^  Martha  and  Mag- 
dalen, Mary  Cleophas  and  Salome,  testified  towards 
Him  an  affection  abonnding  in  confidence,  to 
which  He  responded  with  a  cordial  and  loving 
friendship;  bnt  the  Gospel  moderates  the  Master's 
friendships  so  clearly  that  we  need  not  discuss  the 
point  further.^  Nowhere,  perhaps,  is  the  God 
more  strikingly  manifested  in  the  man,  as  if  He 
had  felt  the  need  of  repressing  the  unbounded 
affection  which  the  grace  and  charm  of  His 
humanity  inspired. 

Of  these  holy  women,  we  know  that  they  con- 
tinued to  live  with  tlie  Apostles  after  the  Ascen- 
sion, and  that  they  participated  in  the  effusion  of 
tlie  Holy  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.^  Tradi- 
tion completes  for  the  most  part,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  story  of  their  lives,  which  v/ere  prolonged  to 
an  old  age  full  of  works,  often  rivalling  that  of  the 
disciples  in  miracles  and  preaching.  Johanna  and 
Susanna  alone  escape  this  glorification  on  earth; 
the  niartyrologies  do  not  mention  them,  while  the 
visions  of  Catherine  Emmerich  may  not  be  ac- 
cepted as  history.  But  God  has  not  forgotten 
them,  and  Heaven  repeats  their  names,  in  pro- 
claiming the  friendships  of  the  Saviour  upon 
earth.* 

1  John,  IV,  27:  "And  they  wondered  that  He  talked 
with  the  woman." 

2  Matth.,  XX,  20-24  ;  —  Luke  X,  40-41. 

3  Act.  Apost.,  I,  14,  and  II,  1-4. 

^  As  we  have  already  said,  some  have  wished  to  place 
among  the  number  of  holy  women  who  followed  our  Lord, 


THE  FiUENDSIilPS  OF  JESUS.  479 

Tradition  sometimes  distinguishes  between  the 
disciples,  whom  it  divides  into  old  and  new.  The 
first  belong  to  the  series  of  Seventy-two,  designated 
in  the  Acts  by  these  words  of  Peter:  ''These  men 
who  have  been  with  us  all  the  time  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  came  in  and  went  out  among  us,  beginning 
from  the  baptism  of  John,  until  the  day  wherein 
He  was  taken  up  from  us."  ^  Stephen  and  Martial 
were  they  of  whom  he  spoke;  Philip,  it  is  said, 
was  not.  He  belonged  to  the  converts  of  the 
second  series,^ — brought  to  the  faith  by  the  preach- 
ing of  the  first,  either  before  or  after  Pentecost. 
Paul  sheds  so  much  glory  over  these  later  arrivals 
that  they  could  in  no  way  envy  their  predecessors; 
truly,  he  should  be  the  disciple,  not  of  another  dis- 
ciple, but  of  the  Master  Himself,  and  thus  should 
take  his  place  among  the  Apostles  by  the  side  of 
Peter,  and  at  the  head  of  those  who  had  preceded 
him. 

aud  afterwards  Saint  Peter,  duriug  his  apostolate  in  Asia,  the 
wife  of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  dying  a  martyr  under  the 
eyes  of  her  husband.  This  opinion,  which  originates  with 
Clement  of  Alexandria  (Stromata,  VIII,  II),  seems  to  us 
untenable.  —  Fouard  seems,  however,  to  accept  it  {Saint 
Pierre,  c.  XIV),  and  we  must  at  least  take  note  of  it. 

1    Act.  Apost.,  I,  21-22. 

"^  Among  the  number  of  new  disciples  it  is  undoubtedly 
fair  to  admit  several  of  those  happy  little  children  whom  the 
Master  was  pleased  to  bless,  and  whose  innocent  importun- 
ities he  defended  against  the  zeal  of  the  Apostles.  CMatth., 
XVIII,  1-6;  XIX,  13-15;  Mark,  X,  13-16).  But  we  have  no 
authenticated  document  to  produce  in  favour  of  an  hypothesis 
otherwise  so  probable. 


Chapter  V. 

The  Converts  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"I  am  not  come  to  call  the  just,  but 
sinners."  Matth.  IX,  13. 

Of  all  the  sentiments  that  can  stir  the  human 
breast  perhaps  the  sweetest  is  that  which  is  ex- 
perienced in  welcoming  back  to  the  paths  of  grace 
and  honour,  a  soul  that  has  strayed  afar.  But 
how  much  more  pleasing  must  be  the  emotion 
when  the  return  is  effected  by  him  whom  it 
delights,  and  who  gives  thanks  to  God  for  the 
favour!  However  estranged  this  soul  may  have 
been,  it  now  becomes  more  than  a  sister,  in  the 
fraternity  of  faith  and  hope;  it  is  his  child,  and 
his  paternal  feelings  are  av/akened  by  the  know- 
ledge of  his  having  brought  to  it  new  life.  He  has 
engendered  it  by  his  prayers,  his  exhortations,  the 
secret  tears  he  has  shed,  and  the  sacrifices  offered 
to  divine  justice  as  the  price  of  its  ransom.  And 
the  longer  he  has  had  to  await  tlie  hour  of  this 
new  birth,  so  ardently  desired,,  the  greater  the  joy 
it  has  brought  him,  and  the  stronger  the  tie  it  has 
created  betv/een  the  regenerated  soul  and  its 
saviour.  One  may  snatch  a  being  from  death  who 
is  endowed  with  all  the  graces  of  youth  and  beauty, 
without  feeling  that  fatal  affection  Vv^hich  springs 
from  the  peril  to  which  one  has  exposed  oneself  in 
saving  a  life;  but  it  is  impossible  to  save  a  soul 

(480) 


I^HE:  friendships  of  JESUS.  481 

without  becoming-  attached  to  it  for  ever.  In  the 
same  way,  it  is  difficult  for  the  sheep  that  has  been 
brought  back  to  the  fold  not  to  mingle  with  its 
gratitude  a  still  sweeter  sentiment,  that  which 
Pere  lyacordaire  has  so  beautifully  called  "the  in- 
definable attraction  born  of  happiness  given  and 
happiness  received."  ^  —  "And,"  to  continue  with 
the  same  great  orator,  "if  natural  sympathy  is 
added  to  this  impulse  which  comes  from  on  high, 
there  is  formed  from  all  these  divine  accidents 
which  happen  to  these  same  hearts,  an  attachment 
that  would  have  had  no  name  on  earth  if  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  had   not  said  to   His   disciples:   'I 

have  called  you  friends.' It  is   friendship 

such  as  God  made  man  and  dying  for  His  friends 
could  alone  conceive.  "2 

In  Jesus-  Christ,  as  in  ourselves  —  and  in  His 
life  as  in  ours  —  we  thus  conceive  affections  which 
are  born  of  the  conversion  of  souls.     Thoueh  He 

o 

loved  all  with  an  ardent  love.  He  tells  us  Himself 
that  He  had  come  especially  to  save  those  who  had 
strayed  into  the  path  of  perdition.^  He  was  thus 
predisposed  to  manifest  thenceforward  a  more  par- 
ticular solicitude  for  them,  and  to  rejoice  more 
fully  at  their  return  to  life,  as  He  testified  in  say- 
ing: "There  shall  be  joy  in  heaven  upon  one  sin- 
ner that  doth  penance,  more  than  upon  ninety-nine 
just,    who   need   not   penance."^      But    in    saving 

^  Eacordaire,  Sainte  Madeleine,  c.  I. 

2  Id.,  ibid. 

2  Matth.,  XVIII,  IE  —  Mark,  II,  17. 

4  Euke,  XV,  7. 


482  THK  FRIENDSIIIPvS  OF  JESUS. 

tliem  He  inspired  them  not  only  with  the  love 
that  raised  them  to  God,  but  also  with  the  friend- 
ship that  drew  them  first  to  the  man,  because 
through  the  man  they  had  come  to  know  God. 
Hence  there  arose  between  Him  and  His  converts 
a  more  tender  and  lasting  bond  of  affection,  which 
we  must  consider  before  concluding  our  study  of 
the  manifestations  of  His  heart. 

Sinners  were  not  wanting  in  Palestine  at  the 
time  of  the  Redeemer.  Independently  of  the 
ordinary  weaknesses  of  humanity  under  all  con- 
ditions of  life,  circumstances  added  unusual  vitality 
and  energy  to  its  errors  and  passions.  After  the 
civil  war,  a  war  with  the  stranger;  then  oppres- 
sion from  without  engendering  tyranny  within;  — 
slavery  penetrating  even  to  the  sanctuary,  in- 
stalling there  the  intrigues  of  commerce;  —  faith 
tottering  at  once  between  scepticism  and  fanat- 
icism;—  pagan  customs  invading  the  lives  of  those 
resigned  to  defeat  and  submission;  —  while  anger 
and  hatred  lurked  within  the  hearts  of  them  that 
still  retained  a  vestige  of  manliness.  It  was  from 
such  surroundings  that  Jesus  had  to  choose  the  ob- 
jects of  His  solicitude.  He  began  without  hesita- 
tion, by  selecting  those  who  were  considered  by 
all  to  be  the  least  worthy  of  sympathy  —  the  pub- 
licans and  fallen  women. 

In  Palestine,  the  publicans  formed  a  sect  ab- 
solutely apart,  not  because  of  their  ancestry,  which 
was  strictly  Jewish,  but  by  their  profession,  which 
drew  down  upon  them  the  hatred  and  scorn  of  the 
Rabbis  and  Zealots.     The  collection  of  taxes  was. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  483 

ill  fact,  regarded  as  a  religious  and  national  apos- 
tasy. It  was  at  least  an  implicit  recognition  of  tlie 
dominion  of  the  stranger  and  the  pagan,  with  the 
added  hypocrisy  which  still  allowed,  them  to  call 
themselves  sons  of  Israel,  and  to  frequent  the 
Temple  to  pray  to  the  God  of  their  fathers.  The 
populace  regarded  them  chiefly  as  extortioners  who 
ruined  them,  as  veritable  vampires  who  sucked  the 
blood  from  their  veins,  first  of  all  for  their  own 
gain,  then  for  the  profit  of  their  patrons  —  those 
knightly  Romans  whose  name  had  become  odious 
throughout  the  Empire.^  And,  as  always  happens, 
the  most  detested  of  this  detestable  liierarchy  were 
not  the  general  tax-gatherers  v/ho  were  far  off,  but 
the  individual  collectors  who  were  under  close  ob- 
servation, whose  ways  they  might  execrate  though 
not  openly  denounce  —  in  which,  however,  they 
were  not  sparing.  Nevertheless,  there  were  among 
them  religious  and  honest  men,  who  looked  upon 
their  trade  as  justifiable,  and  who  did  not  seem  to 
understand  the  hatred  that  pursued  them.  Some 
of  them  had  been  baptised  by  John,  having  steadily 
resolved  to  follow  the  Precursor's  advice,  who  had 
not  deterred  them  from  practising  their  profession.^ 
Jesus  was  of  the  same  mind,  as  may  be  gathered 
from  the  parable  in  which  He  condemned  the 
boasting  Pharisee  and  proclaimed  the  Publican 
justified    by   his    humble    prayer.^     But    prejudice 

^  Dion  Cassius,  book  XIvII  :  Udures  reXwmt,  Trdvres  clatu 
Apirayes.  Cicero  had,  however,  spoken  favourably  of  them. 
{Oral,  pro  Plan  do,  etc.) 

2  Luke,  III,  12,  13-13. 

3  Id.,  XVIII,  10-14. 


484  I'HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

coiitiiiued  none  the  less,  and  the  Master  Himself 
did  not  liesitate  to  say  of  the  disciple  who  would 
revolt  against  the  authority  of  the  Church:  "Let 
liini  be  to  thee  as  the  heathen  and  the  publican."  ^ 

One  day,  when  He  was  passing  the  office  of 
one  of  these  collectors,  named  lyevi-bar-Alpheus, 
at  Capharnaum,  He  stopped  and  merely  said  to 
the  publican:  "Follow  me."  His  disciples  were 
astonished,  but  Levi  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to 
take  his  place  besides  Jesus, ^  leaving  his  registers 
and  his  chests  with  the  same  impulsive  eagerness 
with  which  the  sons  of  Zebedee  had  left  their  boat 
and  their  nets.  Astonishment  knew  no  bounds 
wlien  the  Master  accepted  the  invitation  of  the 
nev/  disciple  to  sit  at  his  table  together  with  all 
those  who  followed  Him.  The  Pharisees  could  no 
longer  resist  asking  the  Apostles:  "Why  doth  your 
Master  eat  with  ^^^^hlicans  and  sinners?" — And 
Jesus,  hearing  them,  replied:  "They  that  are  in 
health  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are 
sick.  Go  then,  and  learn  what  this  meaneth:  I 
will  have  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice.  For  I  am  not 
come  to  call  the  just,  but  sinners."^ 

From  this  moment  Levi  took  the  name  of 
Matthai  or  Matthew, "^  that  is.  Gift  of  God,  in 
remembrance  of  the  grace  of  vv^hich  he  was  the  ob- 
ject. Taking  his  place  among  the  Apostles,  he 
shared    their-  works    and    their    labours   with    un- 

i  Matth.,  XVIII,  17. 

^  Id.,  IX,  9:   "Aud  lie  rose  up  and  followed  him." 

3  Matth.,  IX,  11-13. 

<  Pillion,  Comment  in  Matth.,  loc.  cit. 


THK  FRiENDvSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  485 

remitting  zeal  until  the  time  when  the  Dispersion 
separated  them.  Tradition  is  not  unanimous  on 
the  part  assigned  him  in  the  evangelisation  of  the 
world;  ^  the  most  common  opinion,  sanctioned  by 
the  Roman  Breviary,^  is  that  he  probably  settled 
in  Ethiopia  after  the  wanderings  otherwise  attrib- 
uted to  him,  and  this  is  not  unlikely.  Before 
leaving  Jerusalem,^  he  had  written  in  Hebrew  the 
Gospel  which  bears  his  name,  and  of  which  we 
know  only  the  Greek  translation,  which,  it  would 
appear,  we  owe  to  the  author  himself.*  The 
Hebrew  edition  was  composed  specially  for  tlie 
Judean  Christians,  as  we  clearly  see  in  the  text, 
where  everything  supposes  a  knowledge  of  life  in 
Palestine;  but  the  Gospel  of  Saint  Matthew  soon 
became  widely  known  and  was  welcomed  every- 
where with  the  eagerness  which  it  so  justly  de- 
served. If  it  is  wanting  in  the  style  and  pictur- 
esqueness  that  adorn  the  pages  of  Saint  Mark  or 
Saint  Luke,  it  has  yet  a  noble  simplicity  and  a 
calm  majestic  grandeur  of  its  own.  It  is  par  ex- 
cellence the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  the 
Gospel  of  the  Messiah-King,^  whose  words  it  so 
faithfully  transmits:  whence  has  come  its  designa- 

1  S.  Isidore  of  Seville  represents  him  as  preaching  iu 
Macedonia,  others  say  in  Persia  etc. 

2  On  the  21st  September. — This  is  also  the  opinion  of 
Ruffinvis  and  of  Socrates.     (Hist.  Keel.) 

3  Eusebsus,  Hist.  EccL,  III,  24. — This  opinion  is  the 
most  probable. 

^  S.  Jerome  had  seen  the  original  Hebrew  text  {De  vir. 
illust.,  c.  Ill),  which  he  translated  into  Greek  and  Latin. 
{Ibid.,  c.  II.)  —  Cf.  Fillion,  Preface  on  S.  Matth. 

■5    Fillion,  loc.  cit. 


486  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

tiou  in  the  work  of  Papias,  fragnierxts  of  which 
have  been  collected  by  Eusebius/  After  eighteen 
centuries  the  work  of  the  first  Evangelist  is  still 
the  delight  of  Christian  souls  and  the  glory  of  the 
Catholic  Church. 

According  to  tradition,  Matthew  lived  nearly 
twenty-three  years  in  Ethiopia,  preaching,  destroy- 
ing the  prestige  of  the  Magicians  whom  he  had 
found  so  powerful,  building  churches,  consecrating 
Bishops,  and  founding  convents  for  virgins.  He 
had  baptised  Iphigenia,  the  only  daughter  of  the 
king,  and  had  inspired  her  with  the  desire  of 
giving  herself  to  God.  Following  the  example  of 
the  Princess,  a  certain  number  of  young  girls  shut 
themselves  up  in  absolute  retreat,  living  under  a 
rule  which  w^as  the  prelude  to  the  monastic  con- 
stitutions for  centuries  to  come.  Matthew,  who 
himself  led  the  life  of  a  cenobite,^  directed  these 
holy  souls  in  the  way  of  perfection,  more  even  by 
his  example  than  by  his  teaching.  After  the 
king's  death,  his  brother  Hirtacos  seized  the 
throne  and  resolved  to  share  it  with  Iphigenia. 
Sustained  by  the  exhortations  of  the  apostle,  the 
virgin  refused  to  listen  to  the  offers  of  the  usurper, 
whose  anger  naturally  fell  on  the  author  of  his 
deception.      He  sent  his  soldiers  to  the  oratory 

i  Aoyicov  KvpiaKiav  i^rjyoa-cis.  (Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccl.,  Ill, 
39)  in  which  the  Gospel  of  S.  Mathew  is  designated  by  the 
word  >vo7^a.  We  must  not  conclude  that  Papias  merely 
regarded  it  as  a  discourse :  the  v/ord  applies  also  to  the  rela- 
tion of  facts.  —  Cf.  S.  Iren.,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen 
etc. 

2    Clem.  Alexand.,  Stromata. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  487 

where  Matthew  was  celebrating  the  sacred  mysteries  ^ 
and  had  him  slaughtered  at  the  very  foot  of  the 
altar;  "so  that,''  says  the  legend  of  the  Roman 
Breviary,  "he  was  truly  the  victim  of  virginity."  ^ 
Thus  he  paid  his  debt  to  the  friendship  of  Jesus 
Christ,  in  his  Apostolate  and  in  his  martyrdom. 
Like  his  brethren  he  rests  in  a  glorious  tomb.  His 
body,  brought  to  Salerno,  was  laid  in  the  Basilica 
which  bears  his  name,  and  which  had  been  erected 
by  Saint  Gregory  VII.  France  is  the  proud  pos- 
sessor of  some  of  his  relics,  which  are  specially 
venerated  at  Chartres  and  Beauvais. 

Matthew  was  not  the  only  publican  whom  Jesus 
converted.  Another  similar  victory  occupies  a 
place  in  the  Gospel  which  seems  at  first  sight  more 
considerable,  though  the  inspired  writer  does  not 
return  to  the  incident,  while  Matthew  continues  to 
appear,  with  his  brethren  of  tlie  Apostolic  College, 
in  every  page  of  the  sacred  book.  One  evening  in 
the  month  of  March,  a  few  days  before  His  trium- 
phant entry  into  Jerusalem,  Jesus  arrived  at 
Jericho,  preceded  and  followed  by  an  enthusiastic 
or  curious  crowd,  in  the  midst  of  which  He  was 
almost  invisible.  A  man  named  Zacheus,  who 
lived  in  the  town  as  chief  of  the  publicans  or  prin- 
cipal tax-collector,^  ardently  desired  to  meet  the 
Saviour,  but  did  not  know  how  to  gain  access  to 
Him.  His  small  stature  prevented  his  seeing  over 
the  heads  of  those  who  lined  the  way  which  Jesus 

^     "Munus  apostolicum  martyrii  gloria  cumulavit,  vere 
factus  victima  virginitatis."     (On  the  XXI  Sept.,  led.  VI.) 
2    Luke,  XIX.  2  :  ''The  chief  of  the  publicans." 


488  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

was  to  pass,  and  all  approach  to  the  Messiah  v/as 
barred,  either  because  he  had  arrived  too  late,  or 
because  no  one  would  make  way  for  him.  All  at 
once  a  new  idea  occurred  to  him.^  Setting  out 
rapidly,  he  reached  a  point  on  the  road  where  a 
sycamore  raised  its  strong  branches  over  the  heads 
of  the  multitude.  Zaclieus  climbed  up  as  into  an 
observatory  from  which  he  might  satisfy  his  pious 
curiosity  at  ease.  Vulgar  pleasantries  no  doubt 
greeted  his  apparition;  the  same  ill-feeling  which 
had  prevented  his  gaining  access  to  the  first  row 
allowed  itself  full  scope  without  disconcerting  him. 
He  had  ample  leisure  to  feel  the  keen  edge  of 
scoffs  and  jibes,  but  in  the  depths  of  his  heart  he 
already  perceived  that  he  should  be  wonderfully 
rewarded  for  his  patience. 

The  Master  came.  When  immediately  under 
the  sycamore  He  raised  His  eyes  and  saw  Zacheus, 
whose  vv'hole  being  trembled  under  this  divine 
glance.  The  joy  of  the  publican  surpassed  his 
dreams;  not  only  did  he  see  Him  whom  he  had  so 
ardently  longed  to  know,  but  the  Master's  eyes 
rested  upon  him,  and  in  those  eyes  he  read  an 
affection  in  which  he  himself  had  a  share.  The 
crowd  had  remarked  the  notice  which  Jesus 
accorded  the  publican,  and  kept  silence,  as  if  in 
expectation  of  some  new  wonder.  "Zacheus," 
said  the  Master,  in  a  voice  that  seemed  to  come 
from  afar,  "Zacheus,  make  haste  and  come  down, 

^  Id.,  ibid.,  4:  **Aud  running  before,  he  climbed  up  into 
a  sycamore-tree  that  he  might  see  him :  for  he  was  to  pass 
that  way." 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  489 

for  today  I  must  abicle  in  thy  house. "  The  publican 
leaped  to  the  ground,  and  in  the  superabundant 
joy  of  his  heart,  rushed  towards  his  dwelling  before 
the  Master,  not  daring  to  address  Him  either  in 
thanksgiving  or  welcome.  Meanwhile  the  crowd 
murmured,  saying  that  Jesus  was  going  to  lodge 
with  a  sinner.^  And  moreover  what  a  sinner!  One 
of  the  most  prominent  of  these  accursed  publicans, 
whose  very  approach  they  would  have  prevented. 
What  use  was  it,  then,  to  be  a  strict  observer  of 
the  law,  since  the  prophet  showed  such  preference 
for  those  whom  the  teaching  of  the  Scribes  likened 
to  the  servers  of  idols? 

Zacheus  stopped  at  the  door  of  his  house,  not 
wishing  that  the  divine  Friend  should  cross  its 
threshold  till  it  should  be  purified  for  ever  from  all 
contamination.  "lyord,"  he  said,  "the  half  of  my 
goods  I  give  to  the  poor,  and  if  I  have  wronged 
any  man  of  anything,  I  restore  him  fourfold.'^  ^ 
He  liad  understood  that  charity  has  always  pre- 
cedence of  justice,  but  should  never  be  separated 
from  it;  almsgiving  throws  a  veil  over  sin  which 
God  will  not  allow  His  eye  to  penetrate, ^  and 
equity  is  the  rule  of  divine  judgment.*  Thus  he 
v/as  fortified  against  fear  and  might  rest  secure  of 
mercy.      Neither  was    he    surprised    to    hear   the 

1  lyuke,  XIX,  7:  "When  all  saw  it,  they  murmured." 

2  Luke,  XIX,  8:  "Ecce  dimidium  bonorum  meorum  do 
pauperibus"  etc. 

3  Job.,  XII,  9;  — Eccli.,  Ill,  33 ;  —  Psalm  LXXXIV, 
4,  etc. 

4  Psalm  CXVIII,  75  and  17ii. 


490  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

words:   "This  day  is  salvation  come  to  this  house: 
because  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham."  ^ 

The  Gospel  does  not  again  mention  the  name 
of  Zacheus,  nor  does  it  even  lead  us  to  suppose 
that  he  became  one  of  the  followers  of  Jesus. 
Being  less  free  than  Matthew,  on  account  of  the 
many  obligations  of  his  charge,  he  was  therefore 
not  able  to  leave  Jericho,  where  other  duties  per- 
haps imperatively  detained  him.  Although  the 
Master  often  demanded  from  those  whom  He  called 
an  obedience  as  prompt  as  it  was  absolute,  He 
made  allowance  for  reasonable  delay;  there  were, 
He  Himself  said,  twelve  hours  in  the  day,^  and  it 
was  for  Him  to  determine  the  moment  for  depar- 
ture. The  hour  for  Zacheus  had  not  yet  struck 
when  Jesus  left  Jericho  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem, 
and  the  tradition .  which  places  him  among  the 
disciples,  does  not  number  him  among  those  whom 
it  calls  the  ancients.  He  could  not  have  been  one 
of  the  seventy-two  mentioned  by  Saint  Luke,  by 
the  very  reason  of  the  time  in  which  he  was  called. 
The  lyord,  in  fact,  went  up  at  this  precise  period 
to  Jerusalem  for  the  last  time,  where  He  was  about 
to  consummate  the  work  of  our  Redemption.  We 
cannot  then  admit  that  Zacheus  would  have  had 
time  to  regulate  his  affairs,  as  he  should  have 
done,  before  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus;  it  would 
therefore  seem  that  he  joined  the  Apostles  after  the 
Resurrection,   or,   probably  even  after  Pentecost. 

1  Luke,  XIX,  9:  **Hodie  salus  huic  domui  facta  est;  eo 
quod  et  ipse  filius  sit  Abraliae." 

2  Joba,  XI,  9:  "Noune  dviodeciiu  suut  lioiae  diei?" 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  49 1 

His  merit  is  none  the  less,  for  his  heart  was 
detached  from  the  world  from  the  very  moment 
that  the  Saviour  had  crossed  the  threshold  of  his 
house. 

We  find  him  again  at  Rome  accompanied  by 
Veronica,  whom  some  have  supposed  to  be  his 
wife,  without  sufficient  justification  for  their  asser- 
tion.^ According  to  the  Bazadaise  tradition,  Vero- 
nica had  brought  to  Rome  the  veil  on  which  the 
Son  of  God,  when  going  to  Calvary,  had  mirac- 
ulously imprinted  His  features.  Zacheus  appears 
to  have  come  to  the  capital  of  the  Empire  with 
Peter,  whom  he  may  have  personally  followed 
with  Martial  and  Alpinian.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
tradition  points  him  out  to  us  as  coming  to  Gaul 
with  Veronica  and  the  Apostle  of  Aquitaine,  with 
whom  he  was  a  zealous  fellow- worker  for  many 
years.  He  had  then  abandoned  his  Hebrew  name 
of  Zacheus  (Zaccai,  the  Pure)  to  take  that  of 
Amator,  which  the  people  converted  into  Amadour. 
Retiring  at  the  close  of  his  life  2  into  the  bleak 
desert  of  Quercy,  the  Publican,  becoming  a 
preacher,  devoted  himself  altogether  to  the  evan- 
gelisation of  the  half-savage  people  who  inhabited 
these  regions.  He  had  built  an  oratory  dedicated 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  destined  to  become  in  future 
time    one    of    the    most    venerated   sanctuaries   of 

1  111  the  sanctuary  of  Rock-Amadour  an  inscription  re- 
calls this  legend,  which  has  found  favour  with  Bernard  of 
Guionie,  Saint  Antoninus,  etc.  —  Catherine  Emmerich  re- 
presents Amadour  as  the  son  of  Veronica ;  this  is,  to  say  the 
least,  not  very  probable. 

2  About  the  year  70,  according  to  tradition. 


492  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS. 

Christianity.  The  pilgrimage  of  Rock-Amadour 
rivalled,  in  the  favour  of  mediaeval  Christians, 
that  of  Saint  James  of  Compostella,  and  came 
immediately  after  those  of  Jerusalem  and  Rome.  ^ 
Here  were  venerated  the  remains  of  the  founder, 
brought  from  the  narrow  cavern  where  he  had 
hidden  his  life  and  received  burial,  to  the  church 
of  Saint  Saviour,  under  the  great  arch  facing  the 
pulpit. 2  From  the  twelfth  to  the  sixteenth  cen- 
turies the  most  tender  piety  continually  sur- 
rounded these  relics.  Protestantism  tried  to  destroy 
both  them  and  the  memory  of  Zacheus.  The  holy 
body  was  thrown  into  the  flames,  hacked  with 
blows  of  an  ax,  trodden  under  foot,  and  beaten 
with  a  blacksmith's  hammer. ^  But  the  rage  of  the 
profaners  could  not  achieve  its  object:  there  still 
remained  a  considerable  portion  of  the  precious 
treasure,  which  the  canons  eagerly  gathered  to- 
gether into  a  humble  reliquary  of  gilt  wood.  It  is 
the  same  which  still  remains  under  the  altar  of  the 
subterranean  church,  decorated  with  paintings 
which  revive  the  memory  of  its  most  celebrated 
visitors;  —  Martial  of  Limoges,  who  dedicated  the 
first  oratory;  —  Serminus  of  Toulouse,  who  came 
here  to  pray  with  Amadour;  —  Roland,  the  nephew 
of  Charlemagne,  whose  Durandal  formerly  hung 
from   the    ceiling;*  —  Dominic    of    Guzman,    the 

1  V.  Guide  du  pelerin  a  Roc- Amadour. 

2  The  body  of  Saint  Amadour  was  found   intact  in  the 
year  1168,  in  his  tomb  in  the  grotto, 

3  Odon  de  Gissey  (contemporary).     Hist,  de  Roc- Ama- 
dour, p.  15. 

4  Roland  had,  when  passing,  offered  a  gift  of  silver  the 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  493 

founder  of  the  Friar  Preachers,  accomr)ained  by 
his  disciple  Bertrand  of  Garriga,i  inscribed  like 
himself  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Blessed. 

Tlie  devotion  of  former  times  is  renewed  in  our 
own  day,  and  people  flock  in  large  numbers  to 
visit  the  holy  places  of  Quercy.  "Yet  notwith- 
standing," says  a  modern  writer,  "Rock-Amadour 

is  but  the  shadow  of  its  former  self What  a 

magnificent  spectacle  it  was  wont  to  present  from 
the  height  of  the  ramparts,  when  it  was  adorned 
to  receive  the  royal  visitors  and  the  illustrious 
pilgrims  who  came  to  offer  solemn  homage  to  the 
Queen  of  Heaven;  or  even  when,  in  times  of 
general  absolution,  it  was  open  to  the  innumerable 
pilgrims  gathered  together  from  the  most  distant 
countries!"-  A  strikingly  grand  spectacle  indeed 
must  this  immense  rock  have  been,  showing  on  its 
side  the  Basilica  of  Saint  Saviour,  its  summit 
crowned  by  the  castle  of  the  Counts  of  Cahors  with 
its  massive  keep,  while  at  its  foot  were  heaped 
together  the  humble  dwellings  of  the  clients  of 
Saint  Amadour,  and  still  lower  down  a  little 
rivulet  which  watered  the  sombre  valley.  On 
feast  days  or  in  times  of  great  pilgrimages,  banners 
displayed  their  various  colours  to  the  vnnds,  bells 
pealed  forth  their  joyous  vibration  to  the  answer- 
ing echoes,  hymns  of  praise  arose  in  alternate 
response  from  one  mountain  to  another;  and  when 

weight  of  his  sword.  After  his  death,  his  companions 
brought  back  the  sword  itself. 

1  Gerard  de  Frachet,  De  vltisfratrnm. 

2  Guide  die pelerin  a  Roc- Amadour,  p.  109. 


494  ^^^'^  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

the  shades  of  eve  descended  on  the  valley, 
thousands  of  fires  mingling  with  the  stars  lit  up 
the  gloom,  quivering  on  the  rushing  waters,  and 
throwing  into  bold  relief  the  jagged  outline  of  the 
projecting  cliffs.  The  ancient  chroniclers  are  full 
of  enthusiastic  descriptions,  of  which  our  age  gives 
but  a  feeble  echo.  Let  us  hope  that  the  divine 
Guest  of  Zacheus  will  bring  many  with  Him  to  the 
dwelling  which  He  has  made  here  below  for  him 
among  His  friends,  Vvdiose  very  name  indicates  in 
the  highest  degree  their  devotion  and  affection.^ 

The  Master  had  said  in  the  Temple  to  the 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees:  *'The  publicans  and  the 
harlots  shall  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before 
you;"  2  that  is  to  say,  they  shall  precede  you  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  supernatural  life  and  con- 
sequently in  the  hope  of  eternal  happiness.  The 
conversion  of  Magdalen  confirmed  the  second  part 
of  the  divine  assertion  as  the  conversion  of  Mat- 
thew had  confirmed  the  first.  As  the  Apostle  had 
been  followed  in  the  way  of  salvation  by  the 
publican  of  Jericho,  Magdalen  should  be  accom- 
panied by  the  sinful  woman  of  Samaria,  whose 
conversion  Saint  John  records. ^  Jesus  being  forced 
to  leave  Judea  to  escape  the  persecution  of  the 
Pharisees, 'went  through  Samaria  on  his  way  to 
Galilee.  As  He  approached  Sichar,  being  over- 
come by  fatigue.  He  was  obliged  to  repose  for  a 

^  Mgr.  Grimardias,  Bishop  of  Cahors,  has  restored  the 
structures  and  revived  the  devotion  at  Roc-Amadour,  where 
many  pilgrimages  still  take  place. 

2     Matth.,  XXI,  31. 

2    John,  IV,  4  and  following. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  495 

Space  near  tlie  vvell  of  Jacob,  celel3rated  in  Patri- 
archal history.  Joseph  had  inherited  the  field 
which  his  fatlier  had  bought  from  Beni-Hemor,i 
and  on  which  he  had  sunk  this  well;  so  that  the 
remembrance  of  these  two  Patriarchs  hovered 
around  the  place  and  gave  it  a  sacred  character. 
Jesus  sat  on  the  brink  of  the  well,  and  it  was  about 
noon.  But  the  sacred  writer  shall  give  us  the 
sequel. 

"There  cometli  a. woman  of  Samaria  to  draw 
water.  Jesus  saitli  to  her,  Give  me  to  drink.  Tlien 
that  Samaritan  woman  saitli  to  him:  How  dost 
thou,  being  a  Jew,  ask  of  me  to  drink,  who  am  a 
Samaritan  woman?  For  the  Jews  do  not  com- 
municate with  the  Samaritans.  Jesus  answered, 
and  said  to  her;  If  thou  didst  know  the  gift  of 
God,  and  who  is  he  that  saith  to  thee,  give  me  to 
drink,  thou  perhaps  wouldst  have  asked  of  him, 
and  he  would  have  given  thee  living  water.  The 
woman  saith  to  him;  Sir,  thou  hast  nothing  wherein 
to  draw,  and  the  well  is  deep,  from  whence  then 
hast  thou  living  water?  Art  thou  greater  than  our 
father  Jacob,  who  gave  us  the  well,  and  drank 
thereof  himself,  and  his  children,  and  his  cattle? 
Jesus  answered,  and  said  to  her:  Whosoever  drin- 
keth  of  this  water  shall  thirst  again;  but  he  that 
shall  drink  of  the  water  that  I  v/ill  give  him  shall 
not  thirst  forever;  but  the  water  that  I  will  give 
him  shall  become  in  him  a  fountain  of  water 
springing  up  into  life  everlasting.  The  woman 
saith  to  him:  Sir,  give  me  this  water,  that  I  may 

1     Genes.,  XXXIII,  18-19. 


496  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

not  thirst,  nor  come  hither  to  draw.  Jesus  saith 
to  h.er;  Go,  call  thy  husband,  and  come  hither. 
The  woman  answered  and  said,  I  have  no  hus- 
band. Jesus  said  to  her:  Thou  hast  said  well,  I 
have  no  husband,  for  thou  hast  had  five  husbands, 
and  he  whom  thou  now  hast  is  not  thy  husband. 
This  thou  hast  said  truly.  The  woman  saith  to 
him:  Sir,  I  perceive  that  thou  art  a  prophet.  Our 
fathers  adored  on  this  mountain,  and  you  say  that 
at  Jerusalem  is  the  place  where  men  must  adore. 
Jesus  saith  to  her:  Woman,  believe  me  that  the 
hour  Cometh  when  you  shall  neither  on  this  moun- 
tain, nor  in  Jerusalem,  adore  the  Father.  You 
adore  that  which  you  know  not;  we  adore  that 
vv^hich  we  know;  for  salvation  is  of  the  Jews.  But 
the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  true 
adorers  shall  adore  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.  For  the  Father  also  seeketh  such  to  adore 
Him.  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  adore  Him, 
must  adore  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  The  woman 
saith  to  him:  I  know  that  the  Messiah  cometh, 
who  is  called  Christ,  therefore  when  he  is  come  he 
will  tell  us  all  things.  Jesus  saith  to  her:  I  am  he 
who  am  speaking  with  thee.  And  immediately 
liis  disciples  came,  and  they  wondered  that  he 
talked  with  the  woman.  Yet  no  man  saith:  What 
seekest  thou,  or  why  talkest  thou  with  her?  The 
Vv^oman  therefore  left  her  water-pot  and  went  her 
way  into  the  city,  and  saith  to  the  men  there; 
Come  and  see  a  man  who  has  told  me  all  things 
v/hatsoever  I  have  done.  Is  not  he  the  Christ? 
They  went  therefore  out  of  the  city  and  came  unto 


^HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JE:SUS.  497 

iiim.  In  the  meantime  the  disciples  prayed  him, 
saying:  Rabbi,  eat.  But  he  said  to  them:  I  have 
meat  to  eat  which  you  know  not.  The  disciples 
therefore  said  one  to  another :  Hath  any  man 
brought  him  to  eat?  Jesus  saith  to  them:  My 
meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me,  that  I 
may  perfect  His  work.  Do  not  you  say,  there  are 
yet  four  months,  and  then  the  harvest  cometh? 
Behold,  I  say  to  you,  lift  up  your  eyes  and  see  the 
countries,  for  they  are  white  already  to  harvest. 
And  he  that  reapeth  receiveth  wages,  and  gathereth 
fruit  unto  life  everlasting;  that  both  he  that  soweth 
and  he  that  reapeth  may  rejoice  together.  For  in 
this  is  the  saying  true;  that  it  is  one  man  that 
soweth,  and  it  is  another  that  reapeth.  I  have 
sent  you  to  reap  that  in  which  you  did  not  labour; 
others  have  laboured,  and  you  have  entered  into 
their  labours.  Now  of  that  city,  many  of  the 
Samaritans  believed  in  him,  for  the  word  of  the 
woman  giving  testimony;  He  told  me  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  done.  So  when  the  Samaritans 
v/ere  come  to  him,  they  desired  him  that  he  would 
tarry  there.  And  he  abode  there  two  days.  And 
they  said  to  the  woman:  We  now  believe,  not  for 
thy  saying,  for  we  ourselves  have  heard  him,  and 
know  that  this  is  indeed  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
Now  after  two  days  he  departed  thence  and  went 
into  Galilee."^ 

We  have  not  desired  to  change  one  word  of  this 
beautiful  narrative,  '  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
manifests  a  delight  of  which  the  sacred  text  gives 

1   Johu,  IV,  5-43. 


498  TPIE  FRIKND3IILPS  OF  JESUS. 

US  but  one  other  example,  in  recording  the  resur- 
rection of  Lazarus/  The  two  pages  are  inspired 
and  worded  alike;  it  is  John,  the  Evangelist  of  the 
heart  of  Jesus,  who  has  written  them,  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  same  love.  Commentators,  and 
in  particular  the  Fathers  of  tlie  Church,  have 
striven  to  adorn  them  by  more  elegant  and  grace- 
ful language,  without  in  any  way  adding  to  their 
original  beauty.^  The  resurrection  which  draws 
Lazarus  from  the  tomb  and  that  which  awakes  the 
Samaritan  woman  from  error,  are  works  equally 
divine  in  their  power  and  sublimity.  To  record 
them  must  be  the  task  of  Him  who  accomplished 
them,  and  after  Him,  what  remains  to  be  told? 

The  poor  Samaritan,  scorned  and  hated,  not 
only  because  of  her  race  but  also  because  of  her 
disorderly  life,  endeavoured,  in  spite  of  the  prompt- 
ino-  of  her  heart,  to  ward  off  the  advances  of  her 
divine  P'riend.  Let  us  not  blame  her  too  severely. 
Could  she  suppose  that  the  gift  of  God  came  to  her 
under  the  form  of  such  tender  mercy?  Let  us 
rather  commend  her,  with  Saint  John  Chrysostom 
and  Saint  Augustine,  for  a  faith  so  humble,  so 
o-enerous,  so  apostolic,  that  the  Master  deigned  to 
manifest  Himself  to  her  as  the  Messiah,  whose 
coming  she  had  never  ceased  to  desire.  "Follow- 
ing  the    example    of    the    Apostles,'^    says    Saint 

1  The  narrative  of  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus  in  Saint 
John,  ch.  XT,  occupies  forty-four  verses ;  this  one  comprises 
thirty-eight. 

2  It  is,  however,  extremely  profitable  and  pleasant  to 
read  and  consider  the  commentaries  inspired  by  these  two 
chapters.  —  Cf.  Cornelius  a  Lapide  and  Pillion,  in  h.  1. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OE  JESUS.  499 

Clirysostoni,  "she  abandoned  her  water-pot  to 
carry  out  the  work  of  an  Evangelist  and  announce 
the  Messiah,  not  to  one  man  only,  but  to  the  entire 
city.  She  was' not  ashamed  to  say  that  He  had 
converted  her.  Her  soul  was  encompassed  by  a 
divine  fire;  she  no  longer  regarded  tlie  goods  of 
this  world  nor  its  renown,  but  only  the  love  with 
which  lier  heart  was  inflam.ed."  —  "lyct  the 
Apostles,"  adds  Saint  Augustine,  "come  to  her 
school  to  learn  how  they  must  lay  aside  the  urn 
with  v/hicli  tiiey  had  formerly  drawn."  ^ 

We  should  like  to  trace  the  history  of  the  con- 
vert of  Sicliar.  Catherine  Emmerich,  who  calls 
her  Dinah,  attributes  to  her  a  willingness  to  follow 
Jesus  with  tlie  holy  women, ^  but  neither  the  Gospel 
nor  tradition  warrants  our  accepting  this  idea.  The 
Samaritan  is  pointed  out  to  us  in  passing  as  an 
example  of  the  resourcefulness  of  divine  love  in 
quest  of  souls;  then  she  disappears,  this  w^andering 
sheep,  whom  the  Good  Shepherd  brought  back  to 
the  fold  and  who  is  lost  to  our  sight  in  the  midst 
of  His  flock.  But  the  Master's  eyes  follow  her, 
and  He  knows  that  when  He  shall  desire  to  see  her 
at  His  feet  she  will  run  to  Him  gently  at  the  sound 
of  her  name;  she  lives  for  Him  only,  and  He 
guards  the  secret  of  her  perseverance  in  His  heart. 

The  same  mystery,  in  which  we  love  to  con- 
template the  same  happy  intercourse  of  the  soul 
with  its  Redeemer,  shrouds  the  ulterior  destiny  of 
the  adulterous  woman  named  by  Saint  John.^     It 

^    Cf.  Ivudolf,  Vi^a  Christi,  p.  I,  c.  LXII. 

2  Visio7is,  III.  part,  c.  XVII  and  XVIII. 

3  John,  VIII,  1-11. 


500  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

would  be  too  painful  to  believe  lier  to  have  been 
ungrateful  to  whom  the  Master  had  given  so 
delicate  a  proof  of  His  mercy.  Never,  in  fact,  did 
Jesus  give  a  more  complete  or  delightful  manifes- 
tation of  His  mind  and  heart  than  in  this  instance, 
and  the  reader  would  be  astonished  were  his  atten- 
tion not  called  to  it  even  for  a  moment. 

The  Master  was  teaching  under  the  porch  of 
Solomon.  He  was  seated  on  the  ground  —  not 
having  the  official  character  of  a  Rabbi,  which 
would  have  entitled  Him  to  one  of  the  low  seats 
from  which  the  Doctors  taught  their  disciples. 
Suddenly  the  circle  of  His  auditors  opened  to  ad- 
mit a  number  of  Scribes  and  Pharisees  who  were 
dragging  along  a  woman  in  tears,  her  face  hidden 
in  her  hands,  and  almost  fainting  under  their  in- 
juries and  blows.  "Master,"  they  said,  "this 
woman  was  even  now  taken  in  adultery.  Now 
Moses  in  the  law  commanded  us  to  stone  such  a 
one.  But  what  say  est  thou?''  Thus  they  spoke 
to  tempt  Him,  with  intent  to  accuse  Him  should 
His  reply  appear  objectionable.  But  without 
speaking  Jesus  stooped  down  and  wrote  with  His 
finger  in  the  dust  of  the  pavement.  After  their 
first  surprise  they  again  repeated  their  question 
with  greater  emphasis.  Then  Jesus  stood  erect 
and  said  calmly:  ''He  that  is  without  sin  among 
you,  let  him  first  cast  a  stone  at  her,"  and  bending 
down  again  He  continued  to  write  in  the  dust.  It 
was  a  direct  blow  to  the  accusers.  According  to 
the  law,  the  stone  should  be  thrown  at  the  con- 
demned by  the  first  of  those  who  had  borne  witness 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  5OI 

against  her.^  It  was  impossible  to  suppose  that 
the  witness  might  be  liable  to  the  same  penalty, 
and  his  conscience  should  be  free  from  all  reproach 
concerning  the  crime  he  punished.  And  could 
they  say  as  much  for  themselves,  these  Scribes 
and  Pharisees,  whose  hypocrisy  had  been  so  often 
unmasked  by  the  Saviour?  ^  So  the  woman  was  soon 
left  standing  alone,  the  first  of  her  accusers  being 
the  first  to  depart.  ^ 'Woman,"  said  Jesus,  ''where 
are  they  that  accused  thee?  Hath  no  man  con- 
demned thee?  —  No  m.an,  Lord,"  she  replied; 
and  Jesus  said:  "Neither  will  I- condemn  thee. 
Go,  and  now  sin  no  more."  Thus,  as  Saint 
Augustine  says,  the  absolution  of  the  guilty  woman 
was  united  to  a  reproof  of  her  offence;  the  Lord 
condemned,  not  the  sinner,  but  the  sin.^  This 
was  not  the  object  of  Pharisaical  justice,  which 
hoped  to  compensate  itself  one  day  by  striking  a 
more  noble  victim.  On  that  memorable  day, 
where  was  the  sinful  woman?  Did  she  follow  the 
holy  women  and  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  on  the 
road  to  Calvary,  with  tears  of  compassion  for  the 
Saviour  of  her  soul  and  her  life?  We  like  to  think 
so,  and  we  attribute  the  silence  with  which  Saint 
John  covers  the  rest  of  her  history,  to  the  reserve 
with  which  it  is  fitting  to  surround  all  such 
memories.  Obscurity  is  congenial  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  fallen  woman,  and  no  hand  may  in- 

1  Cf.  Sanhedrin,  c,  IV,  §  4. 

2  Matth.,  XXIII,  14  etc.;  —  Mark,  VII,  6;  —  Luke,  XII, 
56  etc. 

^     **Ergo  et  Dominus  datnnavit,  sed  peccatum,  non  homi- 
nem." 


502  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

discreetly  draw  aside  the  veil  which  conceals,  with 
her  penitential  efforts,  the  restoration  of  her 
honour. 

The  merciful  power  of  Jesus  was  constrained  to 
manifest   itself   in    His   agony   and    even   in    His 
death;  it  was  on  Calvary  and  from  the  cross  that 
He  wished  to  give  its  last  proof  by  the  conversion 
of  the  good  thief,  and  that  of  the  centurion   en- 
trusted with  the  command  of  His  execution.    There 
were  united  v/ith  Him  in  this  supreme  hour,  two 
bandits,  to  be  crucified  for  their  crimes;  one  hung 
on   His   right   and   the   other   on   His  left,   both 
sullenly  defying  the  popular  scorn.     Whence  came 
they?     A  legend  tells  us  that  they  were  two  high- 
way men,  chiefs  of  a  band  famous  for  its  criminal 
outrages    against    people    and    property. ^      After 
having  phmdered  travellers  on  their  way  to  Egypt, 
they  had  probably  taken  part  in  more  audacious 
attempts   in   the   surrounding   neighbourhood,   or 
even  in  the  very  city  of  Jerusalem,  under  the  guise 
of   patriotism;  for  from  the  Zealot  to  the   hired 
assassin  there  was  often  but  a  single  step.     How- 
ever,   Roman   justice  had  seized  them  and   they 
were    condemned   to   execution.      The   Gospel  of 
Nicodemus  calls  them  by  the  names  of  Dismas  and 
Gestas,   by  which  they   are  usually   known.     To 

1  Gospel  of  the  In fmicy  and  Gospel  of  Nicodemus.  —  Cf. 
V.  Bede,  Collectanea,  etc.  In  the  museum  of  Cluny  there  is 
au  enamelled  reliquary  of  the  13th  century,  on  which  the 
good  thief  is  represented  armed  and  carrying  the  child  Jesus 
on  his  shoulders.  —  The  same  subject  is  reproduced  on  the 
cover  of  a  reliquary  of  the  same  period,  in  the  Vatican 
museum. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  503 

show  their  courage  and  their  contempt  of  death, 
they  had  probably  refused  to  drink  the  narcotic 
generally  offered  to  the  condemned,  and  joined 
their  blasphemies  to  those  of  the  assembled  crowd 
and  the  Sanhedrites.  Thus  they  posed  as  victims 
of  independence  and  jeered  at  the  failure  of  the 
Galilean  who  had  not  been  able  to  save  Himself. ^ 
There  is  nothing  more  horrible  than  the  inclusion 
of  the  thieves  in  this  concert  of  insults  and  out- 
rages, and  the  Master's  heart  must  have  been  sadly 
stricken  on  hearing  their  stinging  jibes,  and  per- 
haps it  was  they  who  arose  in  His  thoughts  when 
He  cried  out:  "Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do."  '^ 

Scarcely  had  He  pronounced  these  words  than 
Dismas,  the  man  crucified  on  His  right,  felt  his 
whole  being  changed.  "Neither  dost  thou  fear 
God,"  he  cried  to  his  accomplice,  "seeing  thou  art 
under  the  same  condemnation.  And  we  indeed 
justly,  for  we  receive  the  due  reward  of  our  deeds, 
but  this  man  hath  done  no  evil."  Then,  turning 
to  Jesus  with  his  eyes  full  of  ardent  supplication, 
he  said:  "I^ord,  remember  me  when  thou  shalt 
come  into  Thy  kingdom."  ^  What  had  happened? 
A  pious  tradition  tells  us  that  Mary  had  prayed  for 
the  bandit,  in  recognition  of  the  protection  he  had 
-extended  to  her  and  her  divine  Son  in  the  flight 
.into  Egypt.*  Recognising  him  on  Calvary,  she 
made  special  intercession  for  him,  and  to  her  was 

1  Matth.,  XXVII,  42 ;  —  Luke,  XXIII,  39. 

2  Luke,  XXIII,  34. 

3  Id.,  XXIII,  40-42. 

*    Gospel  of  the  Infancy.  —  Gospel  of  Nicodemus. 


504  I'HK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

due  the  sublime  absolution  given  to  the  condemned 
man.  **Amen,  I  say  to  thee,  this  day  thou  shalt 
be  with  me  in  Paradise."  ^  Here  we  have  nothing 
that  is  not  in  conformity  with  the  love  of  Jesus  for 
His  mother,  with  the  tenderness  of  Mary  towards 
sinners,  or  with  the  doctrine  of  her  necessary  inter- 
cession and  her  unfailing  power  with  divine  mercy 
in  favour  of  mankind.  Therefore  we  have  nothing 
to  object  against  the  belief  of  our  fathers,  and  if 
historical  criticism  here  raises  any  opposition  we 
leave  it  a  free  field:  sentiment  appears  to  us  to 
have,  in  such  matters,  precedence  over  reason. 

The  name  of  the  happy  Dismas  has  been  in- 
scribed in  certain  martyrologies,^  and  honour  is 
paid  to  him  in  several  countries,  notably  in  ours, 
which  invokes  him  as  the  patron  of  repentant 
sinners.^  No  advocate  could,  in  fact,  better  plead 
their  cause,  and  this  must  be  a  tender  joy  to  the 
glorified  Jesus,  to  hear  the  promise  recalled  which 
He  made  on  the  cross  to  the  converted  thief. 

While  pardon  descended  on  the  head  of  Dismas, 
a  Roman  soldier  standing  in  front  of  the  cross, 
attempted  to  penetrate  the  mystery  of  this  anguish, 
which  he  divined  to  be  something  superhuman. 
Discipline  had  made  him  the  involuntary  accom- 

1  Luke,  XXII,  43. 

2  Maty  vol.  Rom.,  XXV  mart.  —  Martyrol.  Ord.  Praed. 
ibid.,  —  etc. 

2  The  church  of  Jerusalem  commemorates  him  on  the 
25th  March.  —  In  the  diocese  of  Versailles,  devotion  to  the 
good  thief  is  much  practised.  At  Saint  Peter's  of  the  Vatican 
his  image  may  be  seen  embroidered  among  those  of  the 
blessed  on  the  ImpetHal  Dalmatic.  (Cf .  Grimouard,  Manuel 
de  Part  chretien,  p.  401-402.) 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  505 

plice  of  a  crime;  his  conscience  sought  to  free  him 
from  it,  without  his  knowing  how  it  was  to  be 
accomplished.  The  death  of  a  Jew  signified  but 
little  to  him,  the  minister  of  Caesar's  justice;  but 
Yv^as  this  only  the  death  of  a  Jew?  Was  this  but 
the  death  of  a  man?  He  doubted  it  more  and  more 
as  the  hours  passed,  deepening  the  shadows  of 
heaven,  and  rending  the  veils  which  still  hid  from 
him  the  divinity  of  the  Crucified.  With  bated 
breath,  no  doubt,  he  had  asked  the  dying  man  to 
manifest  Himself  clearly;  a  confused  prayer  assum- 
ing no  definite  form  but  growing  in  fervour  and 
confidence.  He  did  not  say,  like  Pilate,  *'What 
is  truth?^' — but  rather,  ''Where  is  truth  to  be 
found?"  And  this  he  said  with  a  desire  to  find  it, 
and  with  the  conviction  that  this  desire  would 
bring  him  light.  Suddenly  the  earth  trembled, 
the  rock  opened  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  in  the 
affrighted  silence  which  succeeded  the  clamours 
of  the  crowd,  the  centurion  heard  the  voice  of  the 
martyr  crying:  "All  is  consummated!  Father, 
into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  In  the 
same  instant  the  heart  of  the  soldier  was  rent;  he 
had  understood,  and  turning  towards  his  com= 
panions,  he  exclaimed  in  a  ringing  voice;  "Indeed 
this  was  the  Son  of  God,"  ^  —  to  which  all  replied; 
"He  was  the  Son  of  God."  ^ 

The  centurion  was  not  to  be  the  only  conquest 
of  Christ  on  Calvary;  even  after  his  death  He  had 

1  Mark,  XV,  39  :  "Vere  hie  homo  Filius  Dei  erat." 

2  Matth.,  XXVII,  54:    "Centurio  autem  et  qui  cum  eo 
erant  custodientes  Jesum.  .  .  .  Vere  Filius  Dei  erat  iste." 


5o6  the:  friendships  of  jesus. 

still  another  triuinpli.  lyater  on,  a  squadron  of 
soldiers  came  by  Pilate's  order  to  assure  themselves 
of  the  death  of  the  crucified  men,  before  taking 
them  down  from  the  cross.  They  made  certain  of 
the  thieves  by  breaking  their  legs,  according  to 
custom.  Coming  to  Jesus,  they  ascertained  with- 
out trouble  that  He  was  no  longer  alive,  but,  to 
fulfil  the  regulation,  one  of  them,  named  L<on- 
ginus,  plunged  his  lance  into  the  right  side,  which 
came  out  at  the  left,  having  pierced  the  heart. 
But  the  legend  says  that  some  drops  of  the  divine 
blood  gushed  out  into  the  soldier's  face  and  healed 
his  weak  eyes,  while  his  heart  was  at  the  same 
moment  opened  to  light  of  faith. ^  Both  of  them, 
the  centurion  and  the  lancer,  were  to  become 
apostles  and  martyrs.  The  centurion,  if  we  may 
believe  Metaphrastes,  immediately  abandoned  the 
service  and  became  the  preacher  of  Him  whom  he 
had  led  to  death. ^  According  to  a  tradition  pre- 
served by  Saint  John  Chrysostom,  he  crowned  his 
apostolate  by  a  glorious  death,  and  his  memory  is 
celebrated  on  the  15th  March  in  the  western 
Church.  3 

lyonginus,  still  more  fortunate,  having  left  the 
army,  retired  to  Cesarea  in  Cappadocia,  where  he 
announced  the  Good  Tidings  and  became  bishop 

1  Ludolf.,  Viia  Christi,  c.  LXIV.  —  Cf.  Gospel  of  Nico- 
demus;  —  Baronius,  A7inaL^  ad  anu.  34,  n.  125. 

2  Metaphrast.,  die  16  Act.,  ap.  Baronius,  Annal.,  loc.  cit. 

3  V.  Acta  SS.,  XV  mart.  —  Baron.,  loc.  cit.  —  Cornel,  a 
Lap.  in  h.  1.  —  Baronius  also  gives  hira  the  name  of  Lon- 
ginus ;  but  he  seems  to  get  confused  between  him  and  the 
lancer. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  507 

of  the  church  which  he  founded.  After  a  long 
ministry  he  died  a  martyr/  and  according  to  Bar- 
tolini  his  relics  were  deposited  in  a  church  near 
Lyons,-  at  an  uncertain  period.  In  any  case  he  is 
venerated  throughout  the  whole  Church,  and  his 
memory  is  celebrated  on  the  25tli  March  in  the 
Roman  Marty rology. 

But  above  all,  the  most  illustrious  posthumous 
convert  of  Jesus  Christ  is  Saint  Paul,  whose  claims 
compel  us  to  admit  him  into  the  Evangelical 
circle,  although  his  name  appears  only  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  long  after  the  Ascension  of  the 
Lord.  He  was  undoubtedly  indebted  for  his  call 
to  the  faith  and  Apostolate,  not  to  the  disciples, 
but  to  the  Master  Himself,  through  circumstances 
which  are  fully  known  to  the  reader,  and  on  which 
he  shall  read  here  but  a  commentary. 

Saul,  originally  from  Giscala  in  Galilee,  was 
born  in  Tarsus  of  Cilicia,  where  his  parents  had 
settled.^  His  father  was  a  Pharisee,^  of  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin, 5  who  had  acquired  the  rights  of  a 
Roman  citizen,  we  knov/  not  how.^  After  a  pre- 
liminary study  of  sacred  and  profane  letters,  he 
had  come  to  Jerusalem  to  be  instructed  by  the 
Rabbi    Gamaliel.^      He    was    imbued    with    the 

1  I^udolf.,  Vit.  Christ.,  CLXIV,  cit.  S.  Isidore.  —  Cf. 
Marty  vol.  Rom. 

"     At  I'lle-Barbe.  —  Bartolini,  De  latere  Christi,  c.  VI. 

3  S.  Hieron.,  Script.  Eccl.  Cat.  Panlus.  —  Ci.  Act.  Apost. 
XXI,  39. 

4  Act.  Apost.,  XXIII,  6. 

5  Phil.,  Ill,  5. 

6  Act.  Apost.,  XXII,  28. 
•     Id.,  XXII,  3. 


5o8  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

fanaticism  of  liis  clique  at  Tarsus,  which  uow 
received  a  new  impetus  from  the  teaching  of  the 
celebrated  Doctor,  and  more  especially  from  the 
frequentation  of  the  society  of  the  Scribes  and 
Pharisees  of  the  Holy  City.  There  was  soon  not 
a  more  ardent  zealot  of  the  law  among  the  Sofferim 
of  the  Great  School,  nor  a  more  implacable  adver- 
sary of  the  Gospel.  Though  he  could  not  take 
part  in  the  Deicide,  he  was  so  full  of  hatred  for 
the  Apostles  that  he  regretted  his  inability  to 
satisfy  it  on  Calvary.  His  intelligence  and  know- 
ledge of  the  law  soon  gained  for  him  a  place  in  the 
Sanhedrin,  where  he  appears  to  have  occupied  a 
seat  during  those  scenes  of  blood  v/hicli  were  soon 
to  bring  him  into  prominence.^  He  was  an  ad- 
herent of  one  of  the  synagogues  at  which  Stephen 
disputed  with  the  Hellenist  Jews, — that  of  Cilicia, 
of  which  the  Acts  make  formal  mention.^ 

When  the  popular  fury  had  extorted  from  the 
tribunal  a  sentence  of  death  against  the  arch- 
deacon, it  was  Paul  who  presided  v/ith  sullen 
animosity  at  his  execution,  as  he  himself  acknow- 
ledged later  on.^  The  taste  of  blood  thus  having 
come  to  him,  he  sought  a  commission  from  the 
Princes  of  the  Priests  to  seek  out  and  punish  all 
those  professing  Clirist  wlio  resided  in  Jerusalem, 
whence  he  forced  them  to  fiy  for  refuge  to  Sam- 
aria. He  himself  directed  the  search,  entering 
into  suspected  houses  and  dragging  therefrom  men 

1  As  may  be  seen  in  the  Acts,  VII,  59,  and  XXVI,  10. 

2  Act.  VI,  9. 

3  Act.  Apost.,  XXII,  20. 


Tun  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JKSUS.  509 

and  women,  whom  he  cast  into  prison.^     Then  he 
demanded  an  order  to  pursue  them  still  further. 
Furnished  with  letters  from  the  High  Priest,  he 
set  out  for    Damascus,   escorted    by    sbirros    and 
soldiers,  proposing,  he  himself  tells  us,^  to  secure 
prisoners  there  whom  he  would  bring  to  Jerusalem, 
where  probably  massacres  were  in  course  of  pre- 
paration   after   the    style    of   those    prescribed  by 
Herod  and  Archelaus.     This  was  to  be  a  revenge 
for  the  Pharisees  who  were  formerly  sacrificed  in 
the  forum  of  Antonia  and  in  the  amphitheatre  of 
Ophel,    and    it    mattered    little    to    Saul    that  the 
victims   were   innocent   of    the  crime,    since  they 
v/ere  to  be  immolated  to  the  shades  of  his  fathers 
in  the  Mosaic  faith,  or  rather,  in  rabbinical  tradi- 
tion.    He  went,    ' 'breathing  out  threatenings  of 
death,"  ^  and  was  approaching  Damascus  when  he 
found  himself  suddenly  surrounded  by  a  dazzling 
light,*  and  thrown  upon  the  ground,  while  a  voice 
cried   in  his  ears;   "Saul,    Saul,   why  persecutest 
thou  me?  — Who  art  thou,   I^ord?"  replied  Saul, 
with  respectful  fear,  fully  justified  by  tlie  mystery 
that  surrounded  him,   and   in  which   already   his 
upright  and  sincere  soul  divined  the  presence  of 
God.     The  voice  replied;  ''I  am  Jesus  whom  thou 
persecutest.      It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against 

'    Id.,  VIII,  1-3  ;  —  XXVI,  10-11. 
2    Act.  Apost.,  XXII,  5. 

Id.,  IX,  1:  "Saulus  adhuc  spirans  minarum  et  caedis." 

Nothing  can  be  more  strange  than  the  efforts  of  Renan 

to  explain  this  miracle  ;  never  has  his  imagination  been  more 

exercised  against  good  sense  and  the  reality  of  things.    (V.  les 

Apdtres,  c.  X.) 


5IO  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

the  goad."  Saul's  astonish iiieiit  and  trembling 
increased.  "lyord,"  he  asked,  "what  wilt  thou 
have  me  do?  —  Arise,  and  go  into  the  city,  and 
there  it  shall  be  told  thee  what  thou  must  do." 
The  men  of  his  escort  trembled  at  the  sound  of  this 
voice,  which  was  so  much  the  more  formidable  for 
them  that  they  saw  no  one.  When  Saul  rose  up, 
they  took  him  by  the  hand  and  brought  him, 
blind,  to  Damascus,  where  he  remained  three  days 
without  food.  There  was  in  the  city  a  disciple 
named  Ananias,  to  whom  God  revealed  Himself  in 
a  vision,  saying:  "Ananias.  — Behold,  I  am  here, 
Lord.  — Arise,  and  go  into  the  street  that  is  called 
Strait,  and  seek  in  the  house  of  Judas  one  named 
Saul  of  Tarsus.  For  behold,  he  j^rayeth.'^  (In 
fact,  at  the  same  moment  Saul  had  a  vision  which 
sliowed  him  Ananias  laying  his  hands  upon  him 
to  restore  his  sight.)  Ananias  replied:  "lyord,  I 
have  heard  by  many  of  this  man,  how  much  evil 
lie  hath  done  to  thy  saints  in  Jerusalem.  And 
here  he  hath  authority  from  the  chief  priests  to 
bind  all  that  invoke  thy  name.  —  And  the  lyord 
said  to  him;  Go  thy  way,  for  this  man  is  to  me  a 
vessel  of  election,  to  carry  my  name  before  the 
Gentiles,  and  kings,  and  the  children  of  Israel. 
For  I  will  show  him  how  great  things  he  must 
suffer  for  my  name's  sake."  Ananias  obeyed. 
When  he  entered  the  house  of  Judas,  he  laid  his 
hands  upon  the  head  of  the  blind  man,  saying; 
"Brother  Saul,  the  Lord  Jesus  hath  sent  me.  He 
that  appeared  to  thee  in  the  way  as  thou  camest, 
that  thou  mayst  receive  thy  sight,   and  be  filled 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JFSUS.  511 

with  the  Holy  Ghost."  Immediately,  the  scales 
fell  from  his  eyes;  he  saw,  and  was  baptised  forth- 
with; then  he  took  nonrishment  and  recovered  his 
strength.  For  some  days  he  mingled  humbly 
among  the  faithful  of  Damascus.  But  his  zeal 
could  no  longer  be  restrained;  he  soon  appeared  in 
the  synagogues,  where  he  openly  preached  that 
Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God,  to  the  gma.t  astonish- 
ment of  all  who  heard  him.  They  said  to  each 
other:  "Is  not  this  he  who  persecuted  in  Jerusalem 
those  who  called  upon  this  name,  and  came  hither 
for  that  intent,  that  he  might  carry  them  bound  to 
the  chief  priests?"  But  Paul  continued  to  preach 
the  divinity  of  Christ  still  m.ore  forcibly,  and  to 
confound  the  Jews  of  Damascus.  ^ 

Never  was  there  a  more  marvellous  conversion; 
even  Magdalen's  is  not  so  striking  or  so  fruitful. 
Paul  is  truly  the  most  astonishing  and  the  most 
magnificent  conquest  of  the  Saviour,  and  one 
understands  how  He  wished  to  complete  in  him 
the  series  of  His  personal  victories  over  error  and 
evil.  Ivikewise,  one  understands  the  grandeur  and 
fidelity  of  the  love  that  Paul  should  experience  for 
Him  who  had  thus  sought  him  out,  and  in  one 
bound  had  raised  him  to  the  summit  of  light  and 
glory.  "Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
Christ?"  said  the  Apostle.  "Shall  tribulation,  or 
distress,  or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  dano-er  or 
persecution,  or  the  sv/ord?  — As  it  is  written:  'For 
thy  sake  we  are  put  to  death   all   the   day   long. 

^     A.ct.  Apost.,  IX,  1-22. 


512  I'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OI^  JKSUS. 

We  are  accounted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter. '  ^  But 
in  all  these  things  we  overcome  because  of  him 
that  hath  loved  us.  For  I  am  sure  that  neither 
death,  nor  life,  nor  Angels,  nor  principalities,  nor 
pov/ers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come, 
nor  might,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other 
creature  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love 
of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  ^ 

The  whole  of  Paul's  life  justifies  this  magnificent 
declaration.  Through  fatigues,  vexations,  suffer- 
ings without  limit  or  truce,  he  rendered  testimony 
to  his  divine  Friend,  casting  at  His  feet  rich 
harvests  of  souls,  gathered  from  one  end  of  the 
earth  to  the  other  to  fill  the  heavenly  granaries, 
without  ever  feeling  that  he  had  done  enough  to 
discharge  his  debt.  At  sight  of  this  little  man 
with  bare  forehead,  w^eak  eyes,  and  frail  body,  the 
strong,  the  learned,  and  the  clever  of  the  v/orld 
readily  believed  in  their  own  judgment  and  almost 
scorned  to  hear  him.  But  v/hen  his  first  words 
had  convinced  them  of  the  ascendancy  of  his 
genius,  his  power,  and  his  apostolate,  the  pro- 
consuls and  procurators,  kings  and  asiarchs,  the 
Areopagites  of  Athens  and  the  Senators  of  Rome 
bowed  their  heads  and  became  thoughtful.  vSome 
believed,  like  Sergius  —  others  vainly  tried  to 
sneer,  like  Agrippa  —  all  felt  that  a  higher  in- 
fluence animated  this  soul,  so  much  the  more 
estimable  that  he  had  to  combat  all  the  revolts  and 

1  Psalm,  XL/III,  22:  **Quia  propter  te  mortificamur  tota 
die,  aestimati  sumus  sicut  oves  occisionis." 

2  Rom.,  VIII,  35-39. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.    •  513 

weaknesses  of  the  flesh.  Jerusalem,  Antioch, 
Kphesus,  Corinth,  and  Rome  listened  in  turn  to 
him  whom  they  styled  the  "iVpostle  of  the 
Nations,"^  and  v/ho  is  simply  called  in  history 
"the  Apostle,"  as  if  he  had  no  equal  in  the 
Apostolic  ministry. 

In  vain  has  Paul  sought  to  paint  himself  in 
colours  which  we  outline,  and  to  manifest  himself 
to  all  eyes  as  an  object  of  contempt  and  disgust: 
his  figure  has  assumed  colossal  proportions,  such 
as  no  one  has  power  to  destroy.  Despite  his 
efforts,  he  stands  before  us  with  the  great  height, 
the  proud  bearing,  the  sparkling  eye,  the  majestic 
posture  of  the  Moses  that  Michaelangelo  carved 
upon  the  tom.b  of  Jules  II.  But  the  colossus  of 
the  Ksquiline^  is  seated,  as  if  tired  of  the  weight 
of  God;  Paul  has  need  of  no  other  support  than 
his  sword  on  which  he  rests  his  hand,  and  ever 
standing,  he  awaits  a  fresh  call  from  the  Master  to 
go,  with  the  same  indifference,  to  labour  or  to 
death. 

To  announce  the  coming  of  His  reign,  the 
Messiah  had  made  use  of  the  voice  of  John  the 
Baptist,  through  whom  all  the  prophets  spoke, 
and  who  resumed  the  past:  to  hymn  the  establish- 
ment of  His  kingdom,  the  Redeemer  has  ordained 
the  voice  of  Paul,  in  whose  strains  we  hear  the 
Apostles,  the  Evangelists,  and  the  Doctors  of  all 
time.     The  Baptist  and  tlie  Apostle  derive   their 

1  I.  Tim.,  I,  11:  "Apostolus  et  magistet  gentium." 

2  The  Moses  of  Michaelangelo  may  be  seen  in  the 
church  of  San  Pietro  in  Vincoli,  on  the  Esquiline. 


514  'I'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

eloquence  from  the  same  love,  to  which  they  pay 
the  same  tribute,  that  of  their  blood,  shed  in  the 
service  of  their  divine  Inspirer.  They  did  not 
come  by  the  same  way;  but  they  met  at  the  same 
point  of  the  road,  and  ended  their  journey  under 
the  same  guidance,  which  led  them  to  the  same 
sacrifice  and  the  same  recompense. 

Here  ends  the  picture  of  the  tenderness  of  Jesus 
for  sinners,  and  in  terminating  it,  we  terminate 
also  the  vision  of  the  personal  friendships  v/hich 
moved  the  heart  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  first  in 
the  order  of  time  belonged  necessarily  to  the  most 
holy  Virgin  who  gave  birth  to  Emmanuel;  the  last 
could  not  be  better  directed  than  to  this  son  of 
Benjamin,  destined  to  realise  with  so  much  hap- 
piness the  words  of  the  Master:  ''My  brethren  are 
they  who  hear  the  word  of  God  and  do  it:  ^  For 
whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father,  that  is 
in  heaven,  he  is  my  brother."  ^ 

1  Luke,  VIII,  21. 

2  Matth.,  XII,  50. 


Chapter  VI. 
The    Church. 

**Aedificabo  Ecclesiam  meam,  et 
portae  inferi  non  praevalebunt  ad- 
versus  earn."  Matth.,  XVI,  18. 

Far  above  the  affections  which  the  mission 
determines  is  that  which  has  for  its  object  the 
mission  itself:  this  is  the  principle  and  soul  of  all 
the  others,  and  is  as  superior  to  them  as  life  itself 
is  superior  to  its  various  manifestations.  Jesus 
should  therefore  love  in  His  fellow-helpers,  the 
work  which  He  carried  out  with  them,  for  which 
He  had  chosen  them,  and  which  for  a  long  time 
had  given  them  a  place  in  His  thoughts  and  in 
His  heart. 

Coming  upon  earth  to  redeem  mankind,  that 
is,  to  establish  souls  in  the  knovv^ledge  and  famili- 
arity of  God,  such  as  it  had  existed  in  the 
beginning,  everything  should  be  inspired  by  this 
design,  which  dominated  all  His  thoughts  and  all 
His  activity.  He  could  lessen  it  in  nothing; 
neither  could  He  love  anything  that  was  not  bound 
up  with  it.  This  we  can  realise  from  ourselves 
when  the  object  of  our  life  is  definitely  fixed,  and 
when  we  have  resolved  to  obtain  that  object  man- 
fully, in  spite  of  every  opposing  obstacle. 

But  to  establish  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God 
in  souls,  He  should  unite  all  souls  and  lives:  He 

(515) 


5l6  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

should  therefore  create  a  society,  manifestly 
superior  in  its  nature  and  end,  to  that  constituted 
by  the  interests  of  time.  Knowledge  and  love  of 
God  lead  to  the  possession  of  God  as  their  neces- 
sary end,  and  if  God  identifies  Himself  with  the 
formation  of  this  knowledge  and  love,  they  must 
tend  to  a  supernatural  possession  independent  of 
time  and  in  the  end  eternal.  Unity  of  life  shall 
thus  create  a  spiritual  society,  whose  activity  liere 
below  shall  persistently  aspire  beyond  material 
considerations  and  aims,  with  the  hope  of  attaining 
in  the  future  a  happiness  in  which  the  things  of 
earth  shall  count  as  nothing,  and  upon  which  time 
shall  have  no  claim.  The  society  thus  defined  is 
called  the  Church;  she  is  the  beginning  on  earth 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  joyous  and  glorious 
accomplishment  of  which  she  awaits  in  eternity, 
that  is  in  the  life  really  befitting  the  immortal  soul 
of  which  this  life  is  but  the  infancy. 

In  creating  man,  as  recorded  in  Genesis, ^  God 
founded  the  Church,  and  He  rejoiced  in  the  con- 
tem.plation  of  this  society  —  restricted  but  per- 
fect —  formed  of  two  pure,  loving,  docile  souls  to 
whom  He  looked  for  an  indefinite  succession  of 
generations,  faithful  to  His  word  and  to  His  love. 
Humanity  was  really  His  betrothed,  to  adopt  the 
language  of  Scripture  —  a  betrothed  whom  He 
had  delighted  to  create,  adorning  her  with  a  beauty 
Y/hich  He  alone  was  capable  of  conceiving  and  of 
which  the  angels  might  well  be  jealous.  He 
already  saw  the  dawn  of  that  day  when,  uniting 

1    Genes.,  I,  26-27;  II,  15-25. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  517 

Himself  to  humanity  by  the  communion  of  nature 
and  life,^  He  would  make  her  His  spouse,  whom 
He  would  raise  by  marvellous  transformations  to 
divine  nature  and  life  itself.^  After  the  fall  of 
Adam  and  Bve,  when  the  whole  divine  plan 
seemed  destroyed,  eternal  I^ove  gave  for  the  first 
time  the  example  of  what  the  Apostle  should  call 
later  on  the  scandal  of  His  folly. ^  He  redoubled 
His  tenderness  towards  His  unfaithful  spouse  — 
promising  to  reinstate  her  in  her  former  happiness, 
rendered  more  desirable  by  the  fact  that  He  was 
intensely  grieved  at  her  fall.  We  shall  alloy/ 
Kzechiel  to  interpret  the  thoughts  of  His  wounded 
heart. 

*'Son  of  man,  make  known  to  Jerusalem  her 
abominations.  And  thou  shalt  say;  Thus  saith 
the  lyord  God  —  When  thou  wast  born,  despised, 
abandoned  by  all,  and  cast  out  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth,  I  saw  thy  misery  and  said  to  thee:  'Do 
not  die,  but  live.'  —  I  tended  thee  and  thou  hast 
grown  great,  thou  hast  attained  womanhood, 
beautiful  and  strong,  but  timid  and  shy  of  thy 
very  beauty.  And  I  passed  by  and  saw  thee.  It 
was  the  hour  for  thee  to  love  and  be  loved.  I 
clothed  thee  with  my  own  splendour,  I  pledged 
thee  my  faith  and  thou  hast  become  mine.  Precious 
perfumes  and  rare  garments  were  thine;  thy  feet 
were  shod  with  violet-coloured  shoes,  —  thou  wert 

^  Johu,  I,  14:  "And  the  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt 
among  us." 

2  II  Peter,  I,  4:  "Partakers  of  the  divine  nature.  —  Cf* 
Hebr.,  Ill,  14. 

3  I  Cor.,  I,  23. 


5l8  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

girt  about  with  fine  linen  —  thy  arms,  thy  neck, 
thy  ears  adorned  with  circles  of  gold  —  thy  head 

crowned  with  a  diadem Thou  hast  become 

beautiful  beyond  all  expression;  thou  hast  been 
the  Queen  praised  by  all  nations  for  the  charm 
that  I  had  put  upon  thee,  I,  the  Lord  God!  And 
proud  of  thy  beauty,  thou  hast  profaned  my  gifts 
and  abandoned  them  without  reserve  ....  not 
remembering  the  days  of  thy  youth  when  I  drew 
thee  from  thy  native  misery.  Woe,  woe  to  thee, 
saith  the  Lord  God!''  ^ 

It  is  not  difficult  to  recognise  the  Jerusalem  of 
which  God  thus  speaks.  It  is  the  privileged 
nation,  to  which  was  confided  the  promise  of  mercy 
and  pardon  after  original  sin;  but  it  is  also  entire 
humanity,  to  which  was  promised  the  remission 
of  its  sin  and  a  return  of  its  former  love.  In  the 
midst  of  time,  so  to  speak,  Jerusalem  personifies 
the  society  of  souls,  the  Church  of  past  ages  and 
that  of  ages  to  come  in  time  and  Eternity  —  from 
the  day  when  humanity  was  born  of  God  till  that 
day  when  she  shall  consummate  the  union  of  her 
life  with  God.  This  is  why  Sion  is  always  beauti- 
ful and  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  divine  Lover, 
whatever  be  her  errors  and  miseries,  because  He 
sees  in  her,  virginal  humanity  —  the  Catholic 
Church  —  born  of  His  opened  heart  at  the  last 
hour  of  His  Passion  —  which  He  will  keep  pure 
from  all  error  and  decay,  until  the  consummation 
of  time.     Thus  we   understand  why  this   foolish 

i     Ezech.,  XVI,  1-23. 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JEvSUS.  519 

and  erring  daughter  ^  of  Jiida  remains  for  Him  the 
virgin  of  Israel,^  from  whom  He  cannot  sever  His 
heart,  to  whom  the  prophets  addressed  such  bitter 
reproaches,  ^  and  made  such  consoling  promises.* 
The  reproaches  and  threats  were  but  a  figure  or 
image,  while  the  consolations  and  promises  were 
real. 

As  the  fulness  of  time  approached,  the  mani- 
festations of  tenderness  multiplied,  —  light  shone 
more  vividly  upon  the  supreme  token  that  He 
wished  to  give  of  His  constancy,  which  is  the  In- 
carnation of  the  Eternal  Word;  and  the  object  of 
this  Incarnation  was  unreservedly  proclaimed  by 
the  Prophets  to  be  the  extension  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  to  the  very  extremities  of  space  and  time, 
—  so  that  there  should  no  longer  exist  place  nor 
time  in  which  the  name  of  God  should  not  be 
acclaimed  and  blessed/  It  is  therefore  the  forma- 
tion of  a  new  humanity,  which  adores  the  Father 
in  spirit  and  in  truth,  which  shall  be  for  ever  one 
by  the  perfect  union  of  all  its  members,  like  that 
which  exists  between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  sent 
by  Him  to  accomplish  this  design.  It  was  a  joy- 
ful moment  when  Mary  gave  the  Word  Incarnate 
to  the  world,  joyful  especially  for  the  divine 
mediator.     He  had  so  long  desiderated  it  —  ivith 

1  Jerem,  XXXI,  22:  "Filia  vaga." 

2  Id.,  XVIII,  13:  "Virgo  Israel"  etc. 
2     Isaias,  Ezechiel,  etc. />«5'^/w. 

•*  All  the  prophets  announcing  the  Messiah  and  the 
Redemption. 

5     Malach.,  I,  11.  —  Cf.  John,  IV,  21. 


520  THE  FRIKNDSriIPS  OF  JESUS. 

desire^^  as  He  Himself  tells  us  —  that  His  wisdom 
allowed  His  mercy  to  intervene.  The  Angels  also, 
who  saluted  the  birth  of  the  Redeemer,  sang; 
* 'Glory  to  God  on  high"  before  promising  "peace 
on  earth  to  men  of  good  vail.' ^  From  the  very 
beginning  of  the  Messiah's  mission  no  donbt  could 
be  felt  as  to  the  ideal  He  pursued  —  the  kingdom 
of  God  established  for  ever  among  men.  Not  only 
is  the  word  constantly  on  His  lips,  but  it  is  evident 
that  the  thought  is  always  present  to  His  mind 
and  shapes  all  His  plans.  If  the  Apostles,  deceived 
by  the  concentration  of  their  first  efforts  upon  the 
Jewish  nation,  were  persuaded  of  the  establishment 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  in  the  near  future,^  they 
were  soon  enlightened  that  this  was  the  increase 
by  which  God  would  recompense  the  fidelity  of 
those  who  seek  first  His  kingdom,  and  that  His 
kingdom  should  be,  before  all  else,  the  object  of 
their  efforts.^  Frequently,  even,  their  hopes  are 
frustrated  by  comparisons  in  which  the  customs  of 
terrestial  nations  are  contrasted  with  those  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  condemned  as  unbecoming 
the  subjects,  and  especially  the  Princes  of  the  new 
Israel.^  Certainly,  Jesus  did  not  repress  these 
ebullitions  of  Jewish  patriotism  and  seemed  some- 
times to  enjoy  a  mysterious  misunderstanding  in 
order  to  leave  His  disciples  the  merit  of  a  well- 
considered  and  reasoned  adherence  to  the  teach- 

1  Ivuke,  XXII,  15:   "With  desire  I  have  desired." 

2  Matth.,  X,  5;  XV,  24. 

3  Matth.,  VI,  33 ;  —  Mark,  IV,  24  ;  —  Luke,  XII,  31. 
*  Ivuke,  XXII,  24-27. 


THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  52 1 

ings  He  propounded ;  never  did  He  encourage 
them  in  the  hope  which  animated  them  till  the 
very  night  of  Holy  Thursday,  or  rather,  till  the 
very  moment  of  the  Ascension. ^  Vainly  did  the 
multitude  offer  Him  a  crown;  He  disappeared  by 
a  flight  which  separated  Him  even  from  His 
Apostles  for  a  period  sufScient  to  destroy  all  hope.^ 
Therefore,  if  they  deceived  themselves,  it  was 
because  they  listened  with  prejudice  and  had  not 
meditated  deeply  on  the  words  they  heard;  later 
on  they  came  to  see  them  clearly,  and  to  direct  all 
their  efforts  to  the  realisation  of  the  design  which 
they  had  so  long  misunderstood.  The  Spirit  of 
the  Master  had  enlightened  them,  and  cleared 
away  all  the  doubts  with  which  a  too  narrow  con- 
ception of  the  people  of  God  had  filled  them. 

As  for  Jesus,  we  see  Him  incessantly  labouring 
to  promote  the  establishment  of  the  new  society. 
The  salvation  of  even  one  soul  is  precious  to  Him, 
as  He  Himself  teaches  us  in  the  parables  of  the 
lost  sheep,  the  lost  groat,  and  the  Prodigal  Son, 
and  on  numerous  other  occasions  when  we  feel 
His  heart  expanding  at  the  thought  of  a  sinner 
doing  penance.  In  the  order  of  facts,  Magdalen, 
Matthew,  Zacheus,  and  the  Samaritan  woman 
point  to  partial  conquests  marvellously  accom- 
plished, and  prove  His  solicitude  for  each  soul  in 
particular;  even  on  the  cross,  when  the  salvation  of 
all  humanity  is  achieved.  He  does  not  neglect  to 
gather  on  His  way  to  the  tomb,   the  soul  of  the 

1  John,  XIV,  22 ;  —  Act.  Apost.,  I,  6. 

2  John,  VI,  15. 


522  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS. 

penitent  thief.  But  though  resolved  that  He 
should  die,  if  need  be,  for  the  salvation  of  one 
alone  —  because  one  alone  a^Dpeared  to  Him  suffi- 
cient to  justify  the  shedding  of  His  blood  —  His 
principal  object  was  none  the  less  the  creation  of 
the  society  of  souls.  The  Church  appears  every- 
where to  His  questioning  gaze,  and  His  eyes 
always  rest  upon  her.  She  is  the  Vineyard  to 
which  He  sends,  as  workers,  all  whom  He  meets 
from  the  first  to  the  eleventh  hour  of  the  day  — 
everyone  seemed  to  Him  desirable.  She  is  the 
Harvest  already  white,  but  for  which  He  has  not 
sufficient  reapers.  She  is  the  Banquet  to  which 
He  invites,  with  insistance,  all  those  who  pass  by 
the  way,  rich  and  poor,  young  and  old,  strong  and 
weak;  and  from  which  He  excludes  those  only 
who  do  not  appreciate  the  honour  which  He  does 
them  by  His  invitation.  She  is  the  Nuptial  Feast 
of  the  king's  son,  or  of  Himself  v/ith  all  humanity, 
represented  by  the  assemblage  of  the  lowly  and  the 
poor  whom  He  calls  to  sit  Vv^ith  Him  at  the  table  of 
His  Father.  1 

And  to  attain  this  end,  He  requires  from  His 
assistants  the  most  complete  detachment,  even  to 
the  renunciation  of  the  most  lawful  affections.  He 
does  not  allow  the  slightest  hesitation,  were  it 
even  at  the  deathbed  of  a  father,  and  to  enroll 
them  forthwith  in  the  kingdom  of  the  living.  He 
orders  that  the  dead  shall  bury  their  dead.^     He 

1  V.  in  the  Gospel,  the  successive  parables  of  the  Kiug- 
dom  of  God. 

2  Matth.,  VIII,  22:  "Dimitte  mortuos  sepelire  mortnos." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  523 

Himself  gives  the  example.  When  reminded  of 
His  mother  and  brothers  who  sought  Him,  He 
affirmed  without  hesitation  that  every  soul  that 
engendered  the  kingdom  of  God  was  His  mother, 
and  that  all  wlio  joined  Him  in  spreading  the  new 
society  were  His  brothers. ^ 

But  He  knew  well  that  as  this  society  would 
not  assure  to  its  members  the  possession  of  goods 
and  the  enjoyment  of  the  pleasures  of  this  world, 
it  would  be  opposed  from  the  first,  and  that 
resistance  would  be  especially  directed  against 
Himself.  He  measured  this  opposition  with  a 
firm  and  steady  hand ;  He  hid  nothing  from  His 
disciples  and  even  seemed  pleased  to  contemplate 
the  sufferings  and  humiliations  through  which 
they  should  pass.  ^'Behold,"  He  said  to  them  on 
the  eve  of  the  triumph  of  Palms,  which  might 
have  deluded  them  as  to  the  issue  of  the  contest; 
"Behold,  we  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  all  things 
shall  be  accomplished  v/hich  were  written  by  the 
propliets  concerning  the  Son  of  Man.  For  He 
shall  be  delivered  to  the  gentiles,  and  shall  be 
mocked,  and  scourged,  and  spit  upon;  and  after 
they  have  scourged  Him  they  will  put  Him  to 
death,  and  the  third  day  He  shall  rise  again."  ^ 
And  that  they  might  fully  realise  the  degree  of 
ignom.iny  to  which  He  should  descend.  He  did  not 
spare  them  the  horrible  details  of  His  crucifixion: 
"The  Son  of  Man  shall  be  betrayed  to  the  chief 
priests  and  the  Scribes,  and  they  shall   condemn 

1  Mark,  III,  32-35  ;  —  Luke,  VIII,  21. 

2  Luke,  XVIII,  31-33. 


524  'i'HE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

Him  to  death,  and  shall  deliver  Him  to  the  gentiles 
to  be  mocked,  and  scourged,  and  crucified."  ^  To 
sjDcak  accurately,  they  did  not  clearly  understand 
what  this  signified,  and  if  they  suspected,  it  was 
but  to  exclaim  with  Peter;  "Lord,  be  it  far  from 
Thee;  this  shall  not  be  unto  Thee,"  which  elicited 
the  reply;  "Go  behind  me,  Satan;  thou  art  a  scan- 
dal unto  me."  ^ 

We  cannot  reject  this  conviction,  since  it  is  the 
only  one  admissible,  —  the  foundation  of  the 
Church  is  bound  up  with  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross. 
To  make  of  humanity  the  chosen  people,  of  whom 
God  should  be  the  Eternal  King,  He  should  first 
ransom  them,  and  since  there  is  no  redemption 
without  the  shedding  of  blood, ^  He  should  wash 
them  in  the  blood  shed  on  Calvary.  For  this 
reason  His  soul  is  ever  consumed  with  a  desire  to 
drink  of  the  chalice  into  which  the  hand  of  divine 
Justice  has  poured  expiating  bitterness;  if  He 
yields  to  delay  in  the  discharge  of  man's  debt,  it  is 
because  the  delay  itself  is  suffering  and  expiation 
—  not  the  less  painful  nor  the  less  profitable. 

At  length  the  desired  moment  comes.  The 
chalice  is  held  to  the  Redeemer's  lips  and  the 
agony  of  Gethsemani  begins  —  that  dreadful  pre- 
hide  to  the  unutterable  agony  of  Golgotha.  The 
soul  and  body  of  Jesus  tremble;  agitation  and 
weakness  steal  upon  Him  in  presence  of  the  heavy 

1  Matth.,  XX,  17-19. 

2  Matth.,  XVI,  23.  —  Mark,  VIII,  33. 

3  Hebr.,  IX,  22:  "Without  the  shedding  of  blood  there 
is  no  remission." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  525 

trial;  His  will  conquers  these  fears,  and  dispels 
this  despondency.  After  one  cry  of  horror:  '^If 
it  be  possible  let  this  chalice  pass  from  me," 
come  words  of  resignation  and  love:  "Never- 
theless, not  as  I  will,  but  as  Thou  wilt."^  We 
understand  this  without  difficulty:  the  man,  as  He 
truly  is,  can  but  desire  the  removal  of  the  chalice 
—  but  the  God,  whom  He  also  is,  cannot  renounce 
His  longing  to  purify  the  betrothed  of  His  heart, 
and  we  know  beforehand  what  shall  be  the  resolve 
of  this  Victim  of  our  salvation.  Might  we  not 
always  suspect  with  what  wonderful  intuition  love 
v/ould  multiply  the  forms  of  suffering,  in  testimony 
of  its  tenderness?  This  chalice,  before  which  His 
whole  being  had  trembled.  He  now  relished,  one 
might  say,  with  intense  delight;  His  lips  turned 
away  from  the  draught  presented  to  mitigate  His 
fever,  and  His  soul  was  not  free  from  anguish 
until  it  had  acquired  the  right  to  affirm  that  all 
v/as  consummated.^ 

But  when  the  soldier  opened  His  side  with  a 
thrust  of  his  lance,  the  Church  issued  from  the 
wound,  radiant  and  triumphant;  as  the  first  Eve, 
mother  of  the  living,  issued  from  the  opened  side 
of  Adam.^     The  Father  had  but  to  awake  His  Son 

i  Matth.,  XXVI,  39:  "Verumtamen  non  sicut  ego  volo 
sed  sicut  tu." 

2    John,  XIX,  30:  "Consummatum  est." 

2  S.  August.,  Tract.  120  injoaiin.  —  "Prima  mulier  facta 
est  de  latere  viri  dormientis  et  appellata  est  vita,  materque 
vivorum.  .  .  .  Hie  secundus  Adam,  iuclinato  capite,  iu  cruce 
dormivit,  ut  inde  formaretur  ei  conjux,  quae  de  latere  dor- 
mientis effluxit." 


526  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

and  present  Him  with  His  bride,  and  pronounce 
over  their  alliance  the  blessing  which  assured  to 
them  perpetual  fecundity.^ 

Three  days  after,  Christ,  the  Vanquisher  of 
death,  drew  forth  from  His  tomb  as  from  a  cradle, 
the  nev/  Eve,  the  mother  of  His  true  children, 
beautiful  and  without  stain, ^  and  presented  her  the 
centuries  to  come  as  her  indestructible  domain, 
since  He  had  guaranteed  her  its  possession  against 
every  attempt  of  Hell.  With  what  loving  glances 
must  He  have  welcomed  her,  at  the  moment  of  her 
entrance  into  life,  whom  John  the  Evangelist 
was  after Vv^ards  to  contemplate  in  his  visions  at 
Patmos,  —  "coming  down  out  of  Heaven  from 
God,  prepared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  hus- 
band"^—  clothed  with  the  sun  and  the  moon 
beneath  her  feet,  and  on  her  head  a  crown  of 
twelve  stars,"*  and  swift  as  the  eagle  that  bears  her 
on  his  wings. ^  She  needed  but  a  hair  to  bind  His 
heart,  a  glance  of  the  eye  to  throw  Him  into 
ecstasy;  He  was  all  to  her  as  she  was  all  to  Him 
—  His  beloved.  His  only  one,  whom  He  longed  to 
crown  as  the  sovereign  of  His  soul  and  life, 
descended  from  the  serene  heights  of  Hermon  and 
Eibanus.*^ 

The  Apostles  could  have  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing the  authority  without  limit  and  without 

1  Genes.,  II,  22-23. 

2  Cant.,  IV,  7. 

3  Apoc,  XXI,  2. 

4  Id.,  XII,  1. 

5  Apoc,  XII,  14. 


^     Cant.,  passim. 


the:  friendships  of  jksus.  527 

appeal  which  He  had  conferred  on  her,  when  He 
said  to  them:   "If  he  will  not  hear  them,  tell  the 
Church;  and  if  he  will  not  hear  the  Church,  let 
him  be  to  thee  as  the  heathen  and  publican"  ^  — 
that  is  to  say,  as  one  separated  from  My  family  and 
My  heritage.      "He  has  no  longer  any  part  with 
Me,  and  that  which  shall  overtake  him  is  the  por- 
tion reserved  for  the  hypocrits  and  the  violent,  in 
weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  ^     lyikewise,   it 
was  easy  for  them  to  understand  the  reason  of  the 
affection  which  Jesus  testified  towards  them,  and 
the  measure  of  which   was    determined    by  their 
share  in  the  service  of  the  Church.     In  Cephas, 
the  first  among  them,  Jesus  loved  the  corner-stone 
of  the  new  edifice  —  as  in  the  other  Apostles  He 
loved  the  walls  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  or  the 
gates  through  which  they  were  favoured  to  enter  — 
and  in  the  disciples  the  living  stones  of  which  they 
were  built. ^     All  these  stones  were  precious  in  His 
sight,  but  not  all  equally  so;  their  brilliancy,  their 
size,  their  setting  were  different.     All  these  souls, 
though  privileged  to  form  the  crown  of  the  divine 
Bride,    had    not    manifested   the   same    love   nor 
acquired  the  same  merit;  none  could  complain  of 
his  place  or  his  part,  but  the  thrones  nearest  to 
that   on   which    Jesus    had   seated    His    Beloved 
belonged    to    her   most    faithful    and    most  useful 
servants.     He  had  made  this  clear  beforehand  to 
the  sons  of  Zebedee,  when  they  had  asked  to  be 

1  Matth.,  XVIII,  16-17. 

2  Matth.,  XXIV,  51. 

^     "Quae  construitur  in  coelis  vivis  ex  lapidibus."    {Offic. 
Dedicat.  Hymnus.) 


528  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

seated  on  His  right  and  on  His  left,  without  con- 
sidering the  chalice  which  the  most  zealous  of  the 
Master's  fellow-workers  should  drink  with  Him. 

I^'or  several  days  He  left  His  Church  under  the 
apparent  tutelage  of  the  Synagogue  —  that  Agar 
whose  sons  should  never  more  aspire  to  the  heritage 
of  the  legitimate  children;^  but  He  hastened  to 
emancipate  her  by  a  prudent  progression  which 
extends  from  Pentecost  to  the  first  Council.  Then, 
as  the  Synagogue  pursued  her,  proselytising,  He 
completely  broke  with  her  by  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  itself  and  the  Temple,  after  having 
dispersed  His  messengers  to  bear  the  Good  Tidings 
to  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  and  to  initiate  His 
universal  kingdom.  From  this  moment  the  real 
history  of  the  Catholic  Church  begins,  though  we 
might  say  that  it  began  on  the  very  day  when  God 
created  the  first  man  and  the  first  woman;  but, 
before  this  time  the  eyes  of  man  had  not  yet  seen 
her  in  her  true  character  and  in  the  activity  which  is 
her  special  prerogative.  Henceforth,  nations  should 
walk  in  her  light,  and  the  kings  of  earth,  together 
with  their  people,  should  exist  only  for  her  glory. "^ 
It  is  all-important  not  to  be  deceived  on  this 
point:  in  returning  to  Heaven  to  take  His  place  at 
the  right  hand  of  His  Father,  He  has  left  His 
Church  in  the  world  as  a  continuation  of  Himself 
—  His  other  self  —  in  her  character  as  the  bride 
who  watches  jealously  over  the  interests  of  her 

1  Genes.,  XXI,  10.  —  Galat  ,  IV,  22-31. 

2  Apoc,  XXI,  24-26. 


'THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OK  JESUS.  529 

Spouse.^  In  order  to  accomplish  this  duty  and 
attain  this  end,  she  has  received  full  intelligence 
of  the  mission  and  omnipotence  of  her  founder. 
She  is  not  the  Truth,  but  the  only  one  guardian  of 
the  Truth,  the  infallible  interpreter  of  the  revela- 
tion which  God  has  made  to  her,  and  the  light  and 
life  of  the  intelligence.  She  possesses  therefore  a 
sovereign  authority  over  all  minds  and  all  doc- 
trines, at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances. 
Moreover,  as  a  result  of  the  strict  union  between 
faith  and  morals,  she  is  the  supreme  arbiter  of  the 
moral  life,  both  private  and  public,  and  people  are 
in  general  as  much  subject  to  her  as  they  are 
individually.  For  this  reason,  there  is  no  escape 
from  her  authority,  however  high  our  position 
may  be:  the  peasant  and  the  monarch  are  alike 
in  the  same  condition,  since  they  are  alike  the 
subjects  of  Christ,  or  rather,  the  children  that  He 
has  given  to  His  Church.  Not  only  does  He 
sanction  her  decrees  on  earth,  by  the  judgment 
which  He  exercises  over  all  existence  to  the 
threshold  of  eternity,  but  even  in  time  He  avenges 
her  injuries  without  pity,  by  the  chastisments 
which  are  recorded  in  history.  Woe  to  him  who 
causes  her  sorrow!  Her  tears  have  a  power  over 
the  heart  of  the  King  of  Kings  and  the  Sovereign 
of  Sovereigns,  that  nothing  can  counteract;  her 
path  is  strewn  with  the  sceptres  and  swords  that 
have  risen  up  in  menace  against  her.  This  has 
been  proved    in    our   time,    and  the  sighs  of  the 

^     *'Ut  vera  sponsa  ineum  zelabis  honorem."     {Offic.  S. 
Thesesiae.) 


530  tkij:  friendships  of  jesus. 

Church'  ill  her  oppression  have  sufficed,  like  the 
breath  of  the  tempest,  to  scatter  the  bees  of  the 
Caesars  and  to  break  the  lily  of  the  Prankish 
kings. 

It  is  so  painful  to  her  to  enter  thus  into  contest' 
with  the  various  representatives  of  divine  wisdom 
and  authority,  that  she  never  does  so  of  her  own 
free  choice.  Far  from  endeavouring  to  fetter  the 
human  mind,  she  encourages,  on  the  contrary,  all 
its  strength,  in  memory  of  Him  who  has  founded 
her  and  who  Himself  calls  her  Truth, ^  Light, ^  and 
Knowledge.^  Far  also  from  oppressing  rightfully 
constituted  powers,  she  willingly  takes  her  stand 
by  their  side,  to  aid  and  protect  them  in  their  need, 
because  she  knows  that  they  eirxanate  from  her 
Spouse,  who  is  the  only  true  master  of  all  that 
exists.^  The  friend  of  all  progress  in  which  she 
can  discern  a  means  of  better  serving  humanity 
and  God,  she  remains  disinterested  regarding  the 
things  of  time,  to  which,  however,  she  can  lay 
claim  by  more  than  one  title.  As  Bossuet  magni- 
ficently says,  "she  asks  only  a  free  passage."  But 
it  is  her  right  to  exact  it,  and  her  honour  has 
always  been  to  claim  it  in  giving,  if  necessary,  the 
last  drop  of  her  blood  to  obtain  and  preserve  it. 
God,  who  has  promised  to  be  with  her  till  the  con- 
summation of  the  world, ^  undertakes  to  Himself  to 

1  John,  XIV,  6:  "Ego  sum  Veritas." 

2  Id.,  XII,  46:  "Ego  lux  in  munduiii  veni,"  etc. 
2    I  Reg.',  II,  3:  "Deus  scientiarum." 

4  Zach.,  IV,  12 ;  —  II  Macch.,  XIV,  26.  —  Rom.,  XIII,  1. 

5  Matth.,    XXVIII,    20:    "Usque    ad    consummationem 
saeculi." 


THlv  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JHSUS-.  53 1 

nssiire  her  of  it  at  the  hour  iiiost  fitting,  of  v/hich 
He  alone  can  judge.  For,  history  is  witness  that 
God  is  pleased  to  send  His  lieavenly  spouse  trials 
which  are  well  calculated  to  bafifie  the  discretion  of 
man.  In  sending  her  to  conquer  souls,  He  would 
not,  it  is  true,  spare  her  the  resistance  v/hich  pride 
and  i^assion  necessarily  oppose  to  truth  and  justice; 
hence,  unless  by  a  permanent  miracle  which  is 
outside  the  law  of  life,  the  Church  must  pass 
through  the  ordinary  trials  incidental  to  every  con- 
test —  with  alternations  of  success  and  failure  — 
both  more  or  less  prolonged,  in  awaiting  the  final 
triumph  of  Truth.  But  we  do  not  allude  to  these 
necessary  trials:  we  speak  of  those  that  seem  in- 
explicable, by  the  conditions  in  which  they  are 
produced  or  endure.  It  is  a  mystery  which  per- 
plexes the  most  discerning  and  steadfast  souls;  a 
temptation  to  seduce,  if  possible,  even  the  elect, ^ 
as  the  Gospel  says  in  prophesying  one  of  these 
trials. 

Sometimes  the  Son  of  Man  appears  like  light- 
ning,^ on  the  clouds  3  gathered  together  in  one 
instant  in  the  brightest  sky.  The  storm  bursts  at 
the  very  moment  when  it  was  least  expected;  it 
breaks,  submerges,  annihilates  all  that  it  can 
reach, — and  when  it  has  passed,  nothing  is  left 
but  ruins,  v/here  formerly  all  was  splendour  and 
prosperity.     Yet  if  the  hurricane  lasted  only  for  an 

1  Mark,  XIII,  22. 

2  Matth.,  XXIV,  27:  ''As  the  lightning  cometh  out  of 
the  east."  etc. 

3  Mark,  XIII,  26:  "And  then  shall  they  see  the  Son  of 
Man  coming  in  the  clouds." 


532 

hour!  But  sometimes  whole  days  do  not  suffice, 
and  the  sun  seems  to  rise  only  to  witness  the 
mournful  result,  the  termination  of  which  cannot 
be  foreseen.  Convictions  are  shaken,  courage 
is  broken,  and  hope  is  almost  extinguished,  even 
among  the  staunchest. 

The  God  who  drew  the  Church  from  His  bleed- 
ing side  is  a  jealous  God,'  who  cannot  suffer  the 
slightest  stain  in  His  Bride,  and  must  purify  her 
from  all  that  might  sully  her.  But  in  passing 
through  this  world  it  is  difficult  for  her  to  preserve 
the  spotlessness  of  her  shoes  and  mantle  from  the 
dust  and  mud,  the  briars  and  sharp-pointed  rocks. 
The  favour  which  is  sometimes  accorded  her  lulls 
her  to  .sleep,  and  the  weariness  of  her  fatigues 
induces  her  to  rest  upon  the  wayside.  Then  the 
hand  of  the  lyord  is  raised,  persecution  is  let  loose 
upon  her,  and  He  permits  it  to  disturb  this 
delusive  security,  till  she  has  been  prepared  for  the 
return  of  true  peace.  The  means  employed  by 
Providence  are  often  found  in  the  passions  of  men 
themselves,  who  thus  become  —  to  use  the  words 
of  Pius  IX  —  the  unjust  instruments  of  divine 
Justice.  They  shall  be  disdainfully  cast  aside 
when  they  shall  have  accomplished  their  work, 
and  the  oblivion  into  which  they  shall  fall  would 
be  better  than  the  hateful  remembrance  of  their 
existence,  —  for  all  are  not  forgotten,  and  their 
wage  is  worse  than  death.  The  Spouse,  whom 
they  have  aided  in  rendering  more  dear,  is  —  like 
the  Esther  of  Scripture  —  fully  avenged  for  their 

1    E^xod.,  XXXIV,  14:  "The  Lord  his  name  is  Jealous." 


THE  FRIENDSFIIPS  OF  JESUS.  533 

insults,  on  the  day  when  the  King  of  Kings  offers 
her  His  sceptre  in  pledge  of  His  love.^  If  He  pro- 
longs the  trial,  it  is  to  render  the  triumph  more 
striking.  He  permits  the  Amalekite  to  strut  along 
in  liis  questionable  glory,  in  order  to  allow  time  to 
add  some  cubits  to  the  gibbet  on  which  he  shall  be 
nailed.  As  the  Apostle  says:  "For  yet  a  little  and 
a  very  little  while,  and  He  that  is  to  come,  will 
come,  and  will  not  delay."  ^  He  announces  it 
Himself:  "Behold,  I  come  quickly,  and  My  reward 
is  with  Me,  to  render  to  every  man  according  to 
his  works."  ^ 

To  each  one  according  to  his  works!  Happy 
then  are  those  who  shall  have  helped  the  Church 
throughout  the  difiiculties  of  her  progress!  — 
"Peace  on  them,  and  mercy,""*  according  to  the 
words  of  Saint  Paul,  because,  "He  that  honoureth 
his  mother  is  as  one  that  layeth  up  a  treasure,"^ 
and  the  Church  is  our  mother,^  who  has  given  life 
to  our  souls,  and  through  whom  we  shall  attain 
eternal  life.  This,  then,  is  the  way  to  lay  up 
treasure  for  that  supreme  day,  to  honour  our  lioly 
mother  the  Church,  of  whom  our  ancestors  spoke 
with  such  respectful  love;  this  assures  our  entrance 
into  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  while  awaiting  the 
increase  —  as  the  Gospel  promises  —  of  blessings 
in  the  present. 

1  Esther,  XV,  14. 

2  Hebr.,  X,  37. 

s    Apoc,  XXII,  12. 

4  Galat.,  VI,  16:  "Pax  super  illos  et  misericordia." 

5  Eccli.,  Ill,  5:  "Sicut  qui  thesaurizat,  ita  et  qui  hono- 
rificat  matretn  suam." 

Montalambert,  Disc,  on  Rome  1848. 


534  '^^^^  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

We   cannot   finish    tliis    study   better    than    by 
quoting  one  of  the  most  simple  and  beautiful  pages 
that   Bossuet   has   ever  written.      'Jesus  Christ," 
he  says,    "is  in    His    Church,    accomplishing   all 
through   His  Church!      The  Church    is  in  Jesus 
Christ,    accomplishing  all    through   Jesus    Christ. 
This  is  true,   and  most  true:  he  who  has  seen  it 
gives  testimony  of  it.     Glory  to  the  faithful  wit- 
ness, who  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Father! 
Such   is  then  the  composition  of  the   Church,  a 
blending  of  tlie  strong  and  the  weak,  the  good  and 
the  wicked,    hypocritical  and  scandalous  sinners; 
the  unity  of  the  Church  embraces  all  and  profits 
by  all.     The  faithful  see  in  the  one  all  that  they 
must  imitate,  and  in  the  other  all  that  they  must 
overcome  with  courage,  reprove  with  vigour,  sup- 
port with  patience,  aid  with  charity,  listen  to  with 
condescension,  and  regard  with  fear.     And  those 
who  remain  faithful,   and  those  who   fall    away, 
equally  serve  the  Church:  her  faithful  see  in  these 
latter  the  example  of  their  laxity,  and  seeing  the 
convictions  of  the  others,  all  are  astonished,  edified, 
confounded,    and    encouraged  —  as    much   by  the 
workings   of    grace   as   by   those   of    rigour    and 
justice.  .  .  .  This  Church,  composed  of  such  an  ab- 
horrent  mixture,    extricates    herself    nevertheless 
and   frees   herself   from   her   chaff.      The   day    is 
appointed  when  nothing  shall  be  left  but   good 
p-rain;  all  the  chaff  shall  be  burnt  in  the  fire.     One 
part  of  this  separation  is  visibly  accomplished  in 
time,   by   schisms  and  heresies;    the  other  takes 
place  in  the  heart  and  is  confirmed  on  the  day  of 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  535 

death,  each  one  going  to  his  own  place.  The 
great  universal  and  public  separation  shall  be 
made  when  time  ends,  by  the  Judge's  sentence. 
The  v/hole  Church  longs  for  this  separation,  when 
there  shall  no  longer  remain  to  Jesus  Christ  but 
His  living  members;  the  others  shall  be  cut  off  by 
the  terrible  Discedite  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
in  order  to  finish  all  things  as  He  has  begun 
them  for  His  Church,  shall  pronounce  in  her 
and  with  her  and  by  her,  the  Apostles  seated 
with  the  elect  of  God,  condemning  to  the  fire 
all  the  rebellious  angels  and  all  those  who  have 
taken  part  v/itli  them  and  imitated  their  pride. 
Then  the  Church  shall  take  possession  of  her 
kingdom,  having  none  but  her  spiritual  members, 
gathered  and  separated  for  ever  from  all  that  was 
impure;  a  holy  city  truly,  and  triumphant,  the 
kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  reigning  with  Jesus 
Christ."  1 

We  shall  spare  the  reader  further  quotation, 
although  there  is  m.uch  more  worth  quoting  in  this 
letter  of  the  illustrious  Bishop,  on  the  "Mystery  of 
the  Unity  of  the  Church  and  the  Wonders  it  con- 
tains;" but  since  our  space  is  limited,  let  us  at 
least  add  to  the  words  of  Bossuet  a  passage  from 
the  greatest  of  our  modern  orators,  adjuring  his 
hearers  to  render  justice  to  the  Church: 

"Understand  then  what  she  is,  by  the  unjust 
sentiments  of  her  enemies;  understand,  by  the 
wonders  of  her  constitution  and  her  history,  that 

1  Bossuet,  Lettres  deplete  et  de  direction.  (Fourth  letter 
to  a  lady  at  Metz.) 


536  THE    FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JKSUS. 

her  establishment  and  perpetuity  are  not  among 
the  works  possible  to  men;  understand  that  all  the 
good  accomplished  in  the  world  comes  from  her 
directly  or  indirectly;  and  aspire  to  become  her 
sons,  to  be  her  apostles,  to  place  yourselves  among 
the  benefactors  of  the  human  race.  The  time  has 
come;  everything  is  in  ruins;  we  must  reconstruct: 
and  the  Catholic  Church  alone  can  lay  the  foun- 
dation of  an  edifice  that  shall  abide,  because  she 
alone  possesses  all  truth  and  all  love,  and  because 
man  is  too  great  to  be  established  and  saved  but  by 
supreme  truth  and  supreme  love."  ^ 

1    Eacordaire,  II.  Conference  de  Notre- Datne. 


EPILOGUE. 

In  loving  like  ourselves,  the  divine  Master  has 
sanctified  and  almost  deified  our  affections:  hence- 
forth we  shall  love  with  Him  all  that  binds  our 
heart,  if  we  consent  to  receive  from  Him  the  in- 
spiration and  the  direction  of  our  power  to  love. 
In  this  He  does  not  restrict  that  liberty  which  is 
the  necessary  foundation  of  all  friendship;  for  to 
protect  liberty  against  itself  by  the  light  He 
throws  upon  it,  and  the  support  He  assures  it,  is 
not  in  any  way  to  restrict  it.  Error  and  illusion, 
passion  and  impulse,  are  the  causes  of  servitude  — 
and  the  least  free  of  men  is  he  to  whom  circum- 
stances allow  license.  Thus,  Jesus  Christ  is,  by 
the  example  propounded  in  the  search  and  posses- 
sion of  the  goods  of  the  heart,  the  best  guarantee 
of  the  pleasure  and  honour  we  find  in  the  accep- 
tance and  enjoyment  of  these  goods.  All  are 
agreed  that  love  is  everythiug  to  man  in  the 
present  life,  and,  as  Pere  Lacordaire  so  well  says, 
it  is  also  a  question  of  eternal  life  or  death.  For 
love  rules  activity  —  either  leads  it  to  the  abyss  or 
elevates  it  to  Heaven  —  degrades  it  almost  to  the 
level  of  brutes,  or  exalts  it  to  union  with  the 
Divinity.  We  cannot,  therefore,  be  too  grateful 
to  Him  who  has  taught  us  to  love  as  becomes  our 
dignity  as  rational  creatures,  honoured  by  being 
called  to  the  supernatural  life;  and  since  we  can- 
(537) 


53S  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

not  feel  this  gratitude  without  an  effectual  desire  to 
imitate  Him,  we  cannot  strive  too  earnestly  to 
model  our  life  of  affection  upon  His.  He  has 
loved  all  that  we  could  ourselves  love,  with  the 
difference  that  beseems  His  exceptional  personality 
and  mission.  The  obligations  of  family  and  coun- 
try were  imposed  upon  Him:  His  own  free  choice 
brought  other  attachments  in  which  He  freely  ad- 
mitted the  bond  which  united  His  soul  so  closely 
to  the  souls  of  Martha  and  of  Magdalen;  His  mis- 
sion rendered  other  friendships  necessary,  w^iicli 
He  graduated  as  became  His  prudence  and  gener- 
osity; and  —  if  we  w^ould  say  all  —  His  mercy  for 
sinners  and  His  tenderness  towards  little  children 
finished  the  cycle  of  those  manifestations  of  which 
the  heart  is  capable.  And  all  were  permeated 
with  a  perfection  that  the  ancient  world  could  not 
conceive  —  not  only  pagan  antiquity,  which  was 
incapable  of  comprehending  such  a  form  of  love, 
but  even  Mosaic  antiquity,  when  friendship  always 
seemed  void  of  finish  and  completeness,  even  in  its 
most  gracious  personifications.  When  v/e  com- 
pare Him  with  the  most  vaunted  types.  He  appears 
so  superior  that  w^e  are  surprised  at  our  having 
ventured  the  contrast. 

No  model  more  perfect  could,  therefore,  be 
proposed  to  us,  and  whoever  would  be  without 
reproach  and  without  fear  in  the  life  of  affection, 
should  bear  it  constantly  in  mind.  For  certainly, 
meditation  ou  these  examples  cannot  but  destroy 
illusions  and  must,  consequently,  entail  many  difii- 
cult    renunciations.      INIan    always    suffers    at    the 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS.  539 

destruction  of  liis  illusions,  even  when  he  cannot 
deny  their  emptiness ;  moreover,  it  sometimes 
costs  him  much  to  close  his  eyes  to  their  attraction 
when  he  becomes  aware  of  their  dangerous  in- 
fluence. But  it  costs  still  more  to  break  unworthy 
attachments,  and  far  keener  is  the  suffering  of 
regret,  if  not  of  useless  remorse. 

Jesus  Christ's  ideal  of  affection  is  the  highest 
of  all,  for  it  is  not  only  close  to  God,  but  it  is  in 
God  Himself,  whom  the  beloved  disciple  defines 
by  one  word,  Love!  "^  In  Jesus  Christ  to  love  is  to 
will,  not  only  His  own  good  in  union  with  the 
chosen  one,  but  the  good  of  this  being,  by  their 
common  tendency  to  his  final  welfare.  But  the  end 
of  every  being,  particularly  of  rational  beings,  is 
God  —  known,  loved  and  served  on  earth  —  and 
possessed  in  eternal  life.  Everything,  therefore, 
that  impedes  or  simply  retards  the  ascent  towards 
God  in  one  or  other  of  the  friends,  is  contrary  to 
true  affection.  But  everything  is  in  conformity 
with  the  first  law  of  love  which  increases  the 
power  of  renouncing  the  exigencies  of  sensuality 
or  imagination,  and  thus  renders  the  soul  caj)able 
of  rising  above  the  flesh,  the  world,  and  time,  and 
of  entering  beforehand  into  a  life  of  perfect  union 
with  the  Divinity. 

Certainly,  these  are  teachings  which  all  do  not 
understand,  the  Master  Himself  tells  us;  ^  but  in 
the  history  of  Christianity  we  have  many  beauti- 

^     I  John,  IV,  8:  "Deus  charitas  est." 
2    Matth.,  XIX,  11:  "All  receive  not  this  word,  but  they 
to  whom  it  is  given." 


•   540  THK  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

fill  examples  of  their  knowlege  and  practice,  to 
gladden  and  encourage  refined  and  generous  souls. 
Filial  love,  fraternal  friendship,  conjugal  fidelity, 
affection  and  devotion  of  every  kind,  have  peopled 
Heaven  with  the  elect,  after  having  consoled  earth 
with  the  example  "of  their  constancy  in  all  con- 
ditions —  under  the  burning  sun  or  the  biting 
breeze,  in  the  shadows  of  twilight  and  dawn  as 
well  as  in  the  brightness  of  the  full  noonday. 
They  have  shed  upon  corruption  and  degradation 
the  brilliancy  of  their  splendour  and  the  sweetness 
of  their  perfume,  to  purify  them  for  eternal  Truth 
and  Justice;  the  world,  perhaps,  exists  solely  by 
their  favour  before  God.  For  such  were  Sodom 
and  Gomorrha,  whose  destruction  was  delayed  for 
one  day,  by  the  passing  of  the  Angels  who  visited 
their  territories. 

Without  being  elevated  to  these  sublime 
heights,  how  many  other  souls,  following  Jesus 
Christ,  sustain  their  human  dignity  upon  a  level 
to  which,  if  left  to  themselves,  they  could  never 
attain.  V/e  must  not  be  afraid  to  say  it;  the  pride 
of  free  thought  deludes  those  only  who  are  content 
to  consider  the  surface  of  things,  without  penetrat- 
ing their  depths.  Because  of  some  happy  accidents 
—  in  which  the  influence  of  Jesus  Christ  may  be 
traced,  acting  unconsciously  on  those  whom  it 
protects,  sometimes  even  in  spite  of  themselves  — 
must  we  deny  the  general  weakness  of  intellect 
and  character?  Paganism,  which  penetrates  every- 
where, has  especially  corrupted  our  life  of  affec- 
tion.    Marriage,  paternity,  and  the  family  do  not 


THE  I^RIKNDSHIPS  01^  JESUS.  54 1 

alone  suffer  from  this  mortal  poison.  Love  is 
reduced  to  the  lovv^est  conditions;  friendship  no 
longer  soars  as  of  old,  and  patriotism  awakes  only 
by  sudden,  inefficacious  gleams  in  souls  that  are 
too  solicitous  for  their  affairs  and  their  f)leasures. 
That  society  might  he  able  still  to  defend  itself,  it 
should  have  been  filled  with  the  Christian  spirit 
during  past  centuries;  but  how  long  does  vigour 
remain  in  the  veins  of  the  emaciated  frame? 

Without  Jesus  Christ  love  can  no  longer  exist: 
for  love  is  not  the  claiming  of  those  satisfactions 
which  only  tend  to  lower  at  once  those  who 
demand  them  and  those  who  submit  to  them.  The 
pleasure  born  of  love  is  due  to  the  constant  restraint 
exercised  over  selfishness  and  sensuality,  and  con- 
sequently to  those  incessant  sacrifices  made  to  wis- 
dom and  honour.  Such  is  not  the  sentiment 
which  prevails  at  the  present  time,  which  perhaps 
speaks  more  of  love  and  loves  less.  Purity  from 
early  youth,  virginity  of  mind  and  body,  conjugal 
chastity,  fidelity  to  the  vows  made  before  God, 
paternal  dignity  —  our  age  has  profaned  all  by 
the  literature  or  the  speech  of  men  whom  it  pro- 
claims its  masters,  whom  it  enriches  and  clothes 
with  honour,  and  seats  in  the  councils  of  national 
life.  A  mixture  of  frivolity  and  corruption  con- 
stitutes what  is  called  refined  life,  giving  example 
and  impetus  to  the  lower  classes  —  whence  the 
shame  of  its  vilest  complicity  recoils  on  its  most 
honoured  names  and  its  highest  fortunes. 

It  is  thus  that  races  and  nations  come  to  an 
end.     The  Athens  of  Alcibiades,  the  Rome  of  the 


542  THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  JESUS. 

Caesfirs,  the  France  of  the  Regent  and  of  the 
piiilosophers,  foundered  upon  this  rock.  A  people 
that  profanes  love  is  near  its  ruin,  whicli  is  accom- 
plished by  descending,  Y/itli  song  upon  its  lips  and 
garlands  on  its  brows,  into  the  unconsciousness  of- 
intoxication.  If  the  divine  hand  traces  upon  the 
walls  of  the  banquet-chamber  the  Mane,  TJiecel^ 
Phares  of  Scripture,  it  is  too  late  to  understand 
and  turn  the  warning  to  account;  the  guests  are 
stupified  and  Balthazar,  the  sceptic,  regards  the 
end  of  his  empire  and  his  destiny  alike,  with  in- 
difference. 

Can  this  ruin  be  averted  before  the  hour  of  its 
fulfilment?  Yes,  by  reforming  morals  which  are 
the  principal,  if  not  the  only  cause,  of  progress  or 
decadence.  I^aws  can  accomplish  nothing  except 
through  morals  —  whence  they  oftenest  proceed 
and  which  they  sometimes  modify,  but  rarely  to 
their  foundation.  But  morals  are  measured  by  the 
affections,  because  habits  are  fashioned  after  our 
preferences:  it  is  then  in  the  purifying  of  the  affec- 
tions, above  all  in  elevating  them  to  the  ideal  pro- 
posed by  Jesus  Christ,  that  our  hope  lies.  God 
lias  made  all  nations  curable,^  and  we  should  not 
be  discouraged,  but  should  remember  that  the  sal- 
vation of  all  depends  upon  the  good  v>^ill  of  each. 

To  attempt  a  general  reform  of  morals,  without 
placing  our  own  beyond  reproach,  is  the  error  of  a 
mind  v/ithout  foresight  or  a  will  without  resource. 
Societies  are  modelled  upon  families,  whose  char- 
acter is  determined  by  the  individual  characters  of 

^    Sap.  I,  14:  "Sanabiles  (Bens)  fecit  uationes." 


THE  FRIENDSHIPS  OF  TESU3.  543 

which  they  are  composed,  fathers  or  children, 
masters  or  servants.  And  since  morals  adhere  to 
beliefs,  as  to  their  principle,  the  convictions  of 
each  man  are  the  mnltiplied  roots  which  nourish 
tlie  tree  and  assure  its  fecundity.  We  must  then 
return  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  under  penalty  of  the 
fate  of  those  races  whom  Saint  Paul  reproached 
for  being  debased  by  corruption,  because  they  were 
without  affection.^ 

O  Christ,  Redeemer  —  Eternal  Son  of  God, 
made  man  to  save  us  at  the  price  of  Thine  own 
precious  blood  —  divine  Friend  whom  we  find  by 
the  side  of  innocence  to  defend  it,  of  weakness  to 
sustain  it,  of  sadness  to  console  it,  of  the  wavering 
to  encourage  them  —  source  of  all  our  joys,  of  all 
our  merits,  of  all  our  repentance  —  in  the  name  of 
those  whom  Thou  hast  chosen  here  below,  of 
Mary  Thy  mother,  of  Joseph  Thy  foster-father,  of 
the  Baptist  Thy  Precursor,  of  Peter  Thy  Vicar,  of 
Magdalen  Thy  penitent,  of  Martha  Thy  hostess, 
of  John  Thy  beloved  disciple  —  in  the  name  of 
Bethlehem  Thy  cradle,  of  Jerusalem  Thy  tomb  — 
preserve  us  and  give  us  the  secret  of  the  knowledge 
which  is  in  Thee  —  since  to  possess  it  is  to  have, 
not  only  the  pledge  of  its  endurance  through  time, 
but  also  throughout  eternal  life.^ 

i     Rom.,  I,  31; —  II  Tim.,  Ill,  3:  -'Sine  affectione." 

2    John,  XVII,  3:  "And  this  is  life  everlasting,  that  they 

may  know  Thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom 

Thou  hast  sent." 


Date  Due 

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The  friendships  of  Jesus. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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